


The Beast Within

by WrestleCrazyGamer



Series: The Beast Within [1]
Category: Fictional Wrestling, Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2018-11-19 11:32:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11312514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrestleCrazyGamer/pseuds/WrestleCrazyGamer
Summary: *The first in a series of stories revolving in this universe*The Misplaced are monsters who were once people that have lost themselves in the pursuit of their own selfish desires. They seek the hearts of worlds to find themselves, and lament their own existence. Heart Defenders, those who can harness Momentum to wrestle the Misplaced in order to end them, seek to keep the hearts of worlds safe from them. One boy and girl, however, will throw the balance the Heart Defenders have crafted into chaos... as The Beast chooses a new student...





	1. The Defender's Bracelet

**Author's Note:**

> This is heavily inspired by Kingdom Hearts, but at the same time I will not be incorporating anything copyright. This uses wrestling as a heavy theme in it.

Rex and Nora are childhood friends who have lived their lives dreaming of becoming professional wrestlers. The two, despite their gender difference, can almost always be seen tangling in a ring they built themselves on their hometown’s closest island, known as Shallow Isle due to the waters around it being remarkably shallow below five feet even at high tide. There will be days where they’re bitter about the outcome of a match, but the next day they’ll be closer than before.

Rex has short black hair like his mother and usually wears sneakers, black denim shorts, a white short-sleeved shirt, and fingerless black grappling gloves. Nora on the other hand has long brown hair worn in a braided ponytail. She can almost always be seen wearing running shoes, black spats, a blood red skirt on top, a black tank top bearing a skull logo, yellow bracelets, and white grappling gloves.

The two have proved to be a devastating tag team against some of the other kids too. They even have their own unique team finishing move that they like to call “The Devastator”. They’ve almost always won their matches with other kids too. Most of the adults scoff calling them brats with nothing better to do, but some refer to them as twinkling stars waiting to rise into the sky.

One summer morning though, the two arrived on Shallow Isle to see someone washed onto the shore. She had long crimson hair going past her behind and was wearing what looked to be badly damaged armored wrestling gear. Her body was covered in bruises and small cuts too indicating a very rough fight. Their immediate thoughts were to get her to the mainland, but their canoes only carry one person each and they couldn’t just leave her there to get help. So they decided to carry her to their secret rest spot in a cave opening at the base of the largest tree on the island, affectionately referred to as Big Champ Barry. She’d be safe there since they’d set up blankets to keep the floor warm plus a comfy air mattress they’d spirited away from Rex’s attic.

“Now what do we do? I haven’t had the chance to stock up on medicine and bandages because of our summer homework.” Nora asked.

“Nora, go get a doctor from the mainland. I’ll stay and watch her.” Rex ordered.

“What if she wakes up while I’m on the mainland?” Nora asked.

“She looks too hurt to move even if she did wake up, now hurry.” Rex urged her.

“All right…” Nora nodded reluctantly before taking off.

Rex then sat down by the woman waiting for Nora to return. With no watch on him it started to feel like it was taking eternity. If memory served him properly it should only be about ten minutes from the island to the mainland via canoe. The woman began to groan startling Rex as he was about to doze off.

“W-Where am I…?” she asked weakly opening her eyes.

“Shallow Island. You washed up on shore.” Rex told her.

“Is that where I ended up…? I feel so weak…” she groaned.

“That’s because you just got up from taking a heck of a beating. What happened to you?” Rex asked.

“Does the word ‘Misplaced’ mean anything to you…?” she asked.

“Uh… it’s a word that means you placed something where it doesn’t belong and wound up losing it?” Rex answered raising an eyebrow as if she were crazy.

“Then how I got like this is none of your concern…” she sighed with relief before coughing a bit.

“Well, my friend Nora will be back with a doctor any minute now, so try to take it easy so you don’t agitate those cuts.” Rex told her.

“Smart kids… not often kids your age forget to panic if they see someone in dire need of medical attention...” she scoffed with a smile.

“So… what’s your name? I’m Rex.” he introduced himself.

“Just Chrys will be a sufficient name to be called by…” she smiled.

“Is that short for Chrysanthemum?” Rex asked.

“Don’t go trying to figure me out, boy… I may be injured but I’m still an adult.” she chuckled cringing a bit as she did so due to her wounds.

“Sorry, but my curiosity drives me to know more when I meet someone new. It’s how Nora and I became such good friends when she moved here in Pre-K.” Rex beamed.

“I’m sure to most you come off as annoying…” Chrys smiled.  
“You know, they tell me that too. I just don’t let it get me down. I accepted that not everyone wants to be friends a long time ago.” Rex told her.

“Rex, was it…? Take my hand…” she instructed raising her right hand to him and curiously he did so with a smile on his face.

The gems inlaid in her breastplate, full-arm gauntlets, and greaves then began to glow. The glow turned dark crimson red, lightened a bit, and then turned orange before the gems retook their original green color becoming dormant again. Rex was completely confused as Chrys let out a disappointed sigh.

“Such low growth potential… he’d unlock a bracelet and that’s about it by those readings…” Chrys sighed talking to herself.

“Bracelet? Unlock? Growth potential? Explanation please.” Rex asked.

“It’d take too long… plus it’d be a waste to perform it with you…” she told im bluntly.

“What’d be a waste? You’re not making any sense.” Rex groaned.

“Rex, I brought a doctor!” Nora exclaimed as she entered with an elderly man carrying a medical bag.

“You’re my patient, eh? Well just give me a minute to assess your injuries so I can treat them properly.” the doctor told Chrys kneeling down to her.

That entire evening as Rex lay on his bed he couldn’t stop thinking about what Chrys had said to him. What did she mean by low growth potential? What would be a waste to do with him? It soon grew to the point that it started to agitate him. She couldn’t leave the island due to her wounds being too severe to move her, so he could go demand answers. It kept eating at him even after dinner that night. In his room after his bedtime shower he finally snapped…

“What does it mean?!” he exclaimed in frustration.

He got dressed and snuck out his window to go to Shallow Isle. Once there he could see a light coming from the cave opening. He hurried in and discovered Nora performing the same ritual, but the light the gems were emitting was a bright blue. When the light faded Chrys let out a satisfied sigh.

“You’ve an astounding amount of potential to grow with… have you ever heard of Heart Defenders?” Chrys asked her as Rex took care to hide and listen in.

“Heart Defenders? What’s that?” Nora asked.

“Those whose sacred duty is to protect all worlds from beings known as The Misplaced. They are beings that had lost their existence from being swallowed by Malice, the darkest form of Momentum.” Chrys answered.

“There’s more than just one form of momentum?” Nora asked tilting her head.

“No, not like continuously built up speed. The Momentum I speak of is one that everyone employs whether they realize it or not. It comes in many elements that denote its properties. Red Momentum carries the element of fire, rage, passion, and ambition. Blue Momentum carries the element of ice, composure, wisdom, and knowledge. So on and so forth, Heart Defenders are able to gain superhuman abilities and powers from harnessing the power of Momentum.” Chrys replied.

“So… you fight evil?” Nora asked.

“To dumb it down to a child’s level, yes… we wrestle the bad guys and keep the worlds alive.” Chrys sighed.

“Wrestle?! You use wrestling moves on these Misplaced or whatever?!” Nora asked with sparkling eyes full of excitement.

“Y-Yes…?” Chrys answered caught off guard by her sudden enthusiasm.

“That’s so cool! Rex is gonna be psyched to hear about this!” Nora spoke.

“Actually… it’d be best if he didn’t hear about this… I appraised his potential earlier today. He’d be dead meat in an encounter with even the weakest of the Misplaced.” Chrys told her.

“Oh yeah? I’ll have you know we’re 99-90 in terms of wins. That means he has nine wins over me and you said I have great potential. You can’t trust scan thingies to be 100% accurate about people.” Nora scoffed.

“My gauntlets read the heart, not the body. A body can be strong as a god for all it pleases, but if their heart is weak then they’re easy prey for the Misplaced. It’s best to keep people like that out of the Heart Defenders’ ranks.” Chrys told her.

“You don’t know anything about Rex! His heart’s a hundred, no, a thousand times as strong as mine! He’s the reason I got into wrestling in the first place! He’s the reason I am who I am, and if I could go back and redo it I wouldn’t change a single thing!” Nora barked at her, unexpectedly making Chrys smile.

“So that’s the source of your heart’s strength… how very interesting. Why not let that be your fuel as you ascend the ranks of being a Heart Guardian?” Chrys suggested.

“I don’t want to without Rex. It’s unfair to exclude him because of something so little.” Nora told her adamantly.

Rex had already fled the cave to the south end of the beach where he was least likely to be found. What did it mean that his heart was weak? Why was Nora’s heart “stronger” than his? He didn’t know whether to be happy for his friend, hurt that apparently he was too weak, or upset that he was being left out. When at last a tear fell from his eye he found himself being hugged from behind. His visitor was a masculine yet voluptuous woman donning a full set of black and red armor bearing horn-like appendages on the helmet, a dragon-like tail attached to her posterior, and gauntlets with claw-like finger tips.

“Who are you…?” Rex asked finding himself unable to move.

“Your heart is wounded… broken… shredded to pieces… just like mine was…” echoed in his head without a voice.

“W-What do you mean…?” Rex asked managing to turn around in the woman’s embrace.

“I won’t let you repeat my fate… no one deserves to suffer like I did…” echoed in his head.

“What do you mean…? Make some sense…” he asked sniffling.

Her grip loosened and he gazed into the helmet’s eye sockets. In them he saw complete darkness. In an instant the two became engulfed in a bright red light startling Rex. When he could see again the woman was gone and there was a black metal bracelet bearing red gemstones around his wrist. He couldn’t help staring at his new piece of jewelry.

“You have nothing to fear now… I am not able to guide you, but my Master Ability will be there for you when you need it the most.” echoed in his head as a strong breeze suddenly blew by.

“What have you done?!” Chrys’s voice barked prompting him to turn around seeing Nora helping her walk.

“I don’t know.” Rex replied as a tornado began to erupt around him.

“You fool! That power will destroy you! The Misplaced will hunt you wherever you go!” Chrys scolded as the wind began lifting Rex off his feet into the air.

“Rex!” Nora cried trying to brave the raging wind that seemed to be fighting her progress.

“Nora!” Rex cried trying to reach out to her, and then bright light obscured the two in the tornado blinding everything.

Meanwhile, at the Council of Defenders where all of the Masters gathered, a peculiar event was going on. The General Master, Sophia Rockwell, had gone missing! Her close friend Maria Eureka, a petite Blue Momentum user with tidy shoulder-length black hair, decided to check Sophia’s office one last time for clues to her whereabouts. She wouldn’t just leave without giving some indication of where she went. She looked through the closet and found nothing. She opened the desk drawers and found nothing. In frustration she banged her hands on the desk making a painting behind her fall off the wall. In her panic to put it back before someone saw she spotted what she’d been looking for… a note! She quickly opened it and began to read...

“Maria, you’re the only one smart enough to find this letter, so I know it’s you reading it. The Beast has set its sights on someone, but this time we’re going to do something about it. No more sitting on our asses while the advisors majority rule veto any action I can get passed by the other Masters. I left to go find the one thing that’ll tame The Beast, but I’m gonna need a solid from you and Yoko. I need you to go find the kid that The Beast has made its new host. I don’t know exactly where he’ll land once The Beast takes off with him, but I can give an approximate so start looking there. To narrow your search, it’s a boy with red-level growth potential.” -Your Friend, Sophia.

“Sophia… you’ve done some reckless things… but this crosses the line! Who am I kidding, I’m gonna cave anyway so I may as well tap now while I still have my pride…” she grumbled.

She hid the note in her legging pocket and rushed down to the cafeteria. There as she always was with a late afternoon mushroom pizza, was Yoko Hiroshima, Sophia’s other best friend. This tower of a Defender had knee-length pink hair, huge bosoms, and was a bit on the chubby side despite her obvious muscle. She had on her usual outfit: foot wraps, black leg sleeves attached via a garter belt to her dark violet leotard with a diamond hole in the chest showing her cleavage, black arm sleeves attached via a small breastplate, and light purple grappling gloves.

“Yoko, we’ve got work to do.” Maria told her.

“Can it wait?” Yoko asked with half a pizza slice in her mouth.

“No, It’s of the utmost importance!” Maria barked.

“Do we have to…?” Yoko groaned swallowing the rest of the slice she was eating as Maria checked to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard.

“It’s coming directly from Sophia…” Maria whispered and Yoko’s attitude immediately changed.

She closed the box to the pizza she was eating and hurried with Maria to the Dimension Jumper Hangar. Boarding Maria’s ship, The Starry Sky, they took off for the area indicated on the map where Sophia’s letter specified. They had to be quick, because even if the advisors don’t know exactly what’s happening they’ll sure as heck realize something’s up sooner or later.

In a stadium somewhere Rex was finally coming to. He groaned as his vision eventually began to focus. Once it’d fully focused he saw that he was caught by the ankle by the rope of a counterweight that’d just barely stopped him from landing face first in a wrestling ring. Just as he went to move the other end that was holding up a rafter board snapped making him hit the mat as the board landed in the crowd area that was thankfully empty. He sat up rubbing the back of his head and heard someone step into the ring.

He looked behind him to see a middle-aged woman with long white hair wearing a janitor hat and jumpsuit with gloves poking out of the left pocket. He was expecting her to be mad about the hole in the roof he’d just noticed was scarily Rex-shaped, but she was smiling. She even helped him stand up and untangle his ankle.

“I’ve seen some ungraceful landings before, but that one takes the cake.” the janitor chuckled.

“Um… sorry about the roof.” Rex told her with a bow.

“Ah, the place is abandoned anyway. I’m just paid to make sure the place doesn’t become a pigsty. I’ll just list it as disrepair damage. The boardwalk was bound to start coming apart anyway.” she smiled.

“So… where am I exactly?” Rex asked.

“Where are you? Kid, you’re just in the granddaddy of all venues for wrestling, King Stadium! Well, I guess it literally is the granddaddy since it’s so old and isn’t used anymore… it’s just a squatter magnet for Tango Town now, but I remember the days where wrestlers came from all over the worlds to compete…” the janitor smiled.

“Worlds?” Rex asked tilting his head.

“Hold on, you’re a Hearts Defender and you don’t know that there’s multiple worlds out there?” the janitor asked pointing out his bracelet.

“I… don’t know anything…” Rex admitted looking at his feet.

“Well then, I know just the place.” the janitor winked.

She led him out of the stadium and into the quaint town. The people seemed nice enough, they gave friendly waves as they went by. Once they passed through large double doors into another district they came to a small shop on a corner. The sign read “Abraham Gear” and basic ring gear was on display in the front window.

“This is Abraham Gear, an old shop meant to outfit beginner level wrestlers both Heart Defender and regular grappler. Of course, the owner works another job since nobody buys from here anymore. You know how it goes, rival companies at closer-to-home locations in town…” the janitor told him.

“So the owner can help me?” Rex asked.

“Go in and see for yourself.” she smiled.

Rex took a deep breath and entered. The inside had soothing classical music playing. Sitting on a stool on the far end of the shop using a mannequin to model a leotard as she stitched it was a middle-aged woman with greying brown hair. She was wearing black boots, blue jeans, a black tank top, and half-moon spectacles. Rex took a step and the floor creaked startling him as the woman simply glanced over not bothering to turn toward him.

“What’s a Heart Defender doing here?” she asked.

“Um… I was told I could come to you for help. I don’t know anything about being a Heart Defender.” Rex replied.

“Where’s your Master?” she asked.

“I don’t have one.” Rex answered and she stuck the needle in the mannequin’s shoulder so she could turn toward him on her stool.

“Now how can you have that bracelet without having a Master? It had to come from somewhere.” she asked.

“Um… I was given it by a woman in armor… I didn’t get her name… I don’t even know how I got here…” Rex admitted.

“Sounds a lot like The Beast… not exactly a person but not a Misplaced. The Council of Masters is gonna be mighty pissed that she’s gone and picked another Apprentice.” the woman spoke.

“Misplaced…? Council of Masters?” Rex asked.

“Kid… you’re in way over your head if you don’t know what a Misplaced is. When a person succumbs to Malice Momentum they turn into a Misplaced, because they’ve lost who they are. There’s no worse fate than that nowadays.” she lectured.

“Malice Momentum? I’m not following…” Rex told her.

“God, you’re killing me, kid…” she sighed.

She sat him down, busted out a textbook, and began to lecture him. He was extraordinarily slow to picking up the concept of the basic “Colored Momentums” and their evolved forms. The one thing he immediately got was the legend of The Beast. Apparently she was a General Master, the highest rank attainable by Heart Defenders, having mastered all Lvl2 forms of every Momentum. The only one she hadn’t mastered Lvl3 in… was Black, as to even attempt it would result in transforming into a Misplaced. It was frowned upon to even considered learning Lvl2, also known as Dark Momentum. For trying to perform such madness, her sister claimed she’d become lost to madness. Her rank was stripped from her and she was locked away.

Her sorrow turned her Soul Aura black. When she learned that her sister did it because she covetted her position, her fury became indescribable. The momentum she used started as Volcanic, but by the time she’d torn the bars of her cell off… it’d become Malice, the Lvl3 form of Black Momentum. Her rampage gave birth to her Misplaced… The Beast. Her rage brought about the Night of Blood. When two Defenders clash you either stop when your foe is pinned or submits… but The Beast would not stop until they have stopped breathing. The Beast then began seeking out young talent to convert into her own kind, or so the Council of Defenders claims.

“There. Do you understand now, kid? That’s just the tip of the iceberg too.” the woman told him.

“There’s more…?” Rex groaned.

“Of course there’s more ya numbskull! Of course, I’ve got a soft spot for young boys trying to become Master Heart Defenders… so I’ll look out for ya. You get into trouble you come here.” she told him.

“Is it weird for boys to wanna become Masters?” Rex asked.

“It’s more that it takes them much longer than women in almost every regard, so the Court of Masters and Council of Defenders are mostly women. By the way, what’s your name, kid?” she answered.

“I’m Rex.” he introduced himself.

“Okay Rex, just call me Jewels.” she smiled.

“I wanna explore town now…” Rex told her.

“Hold it. Before you go anywhere that a Misplaced might get ya, you’re going to need elbow and knee pads. You’ll bust something if you go like that.” Jewels scolded him tugging him toward a fitting room.

She measured him and then began to sew like clockwork. In a lofty thirty minutes she had made him a matching set of black and white elbow and knee pads. She then placed an odd-looking cross pendant around his neck.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s a Defender Compass. Get lost, it’ll begin to point you in the right direction be it when travelling between two worlds or two areas. I noticed you didn’t have one, so it’s on the house.” Jewels chuckled patting his head.

“Thanks Jewels.” he smiled before rushing out.

“That kid reminds me of when I was his age… young, full of energy, but a fateful day made me the target of the Council of Defenders…” Jewels sighed with a weak smile.

Rex excitedly ran around the world he was in. He wanted to see all there was to see. When he entered the Hotel District, it was devoid of people. No lights were on, not even the street lamps. He carefully walked around until a woman ran by him with an odd knight-like creature a bit shorter than Rex charged at her. It tackled her and as it began slashing her with its claws, her screams scared Rex, but he still had to do something. He ran at it and tackled it rolling to his feet throwing it to a wall dazing it.

“T-Thank you…” the woman cried quickly getting to her feet making a break back for the district Rex came from.

Rex then got a good look at her assailant. It was female in build, yet there was something very wrong with it. On its chest was an emblem of some sort. It looked like a jet black key pointing down with wing-like lines extending from the ring part. It couldn’t be… was this one of those Misplaced that Jewels told him about? His bracelet then began going haywire tugging his arm until it began to send light at the creature seeming to scan it.

[Misplaced Entry #01]  
Name: Lady Knight  
Class: Emblem Misplaced - Common  
Description: The most common form of Misplaced. It moves fast, attacks quick, and has a thirst for blood. To normal people just one can be fatal, but to Heart Defenders as long as they aren’t in huge groups it should be cake to handle.  
[End Entry]

The Lady Knight then came to and got up looking hella mad. Rex had no choice but to defend himself. It came at him and all at once his feet began to emit a yellow aura as he moved fast behind it giving it a German Suplex dazing it again. When it got up he gave it a “one-two-kick” combo, which means two punches and a drop kick making him back flip landing perfectly on his feet.

He landed a few of those on the Misplaced, but it didn’t seem to give up. Out of nowhere black and red portals opened making more Lady Knights appear. He stepped back staring at his six opponents and turned to flee. He ran as fast as he could with more seeming to appear like a plague. When he got back to Jewels shop he slammed the door behind him locking him.

“I take it you ran into some Misplaced.” Jewels smirked.

“It… it wouldn’t give up… I hit it with my signature 3-hit combo and it just stood like it was nothing…” Rex panted trying to catch his breath.

“Oh, so you don’t know how to destroy a Misplaced… you have to either pin it or make it submit. The good thing is you don’t have to count a pin, you just gotta weaken it enough that a move like jumping from the top will destroy it.” Jewels explained.

“How do I tell that?” Rex asked and she examined his bracelet.

“Let’s see if I remember how to do this…” Jewels spoke fiddling with his bracelet until she made a holographic screen emit from the bracelet’s gems showing various stats.

[Stats Report: Rex]  
Lvl: 1  
Stamina: 20/20  
Momentum: 2/2  
Offense: 5  
Defense: 3  
Technique: 1  
Abilities: Underdog (Master Ability).  
-Momentum Mastery-  
Red: 0/100%  
Blue: 0/100%  
Yellow: 0/100%  
Green: 0/100%  
Purple: 0/100%  
White: 0/100%  
Black: 33/100%  
Momentum Skills: None.  
[End Stats Report]

“Damn kid, you’re super new!” Jewels exclaimed.

“Underdog? What’s that?” Rex asked.

“It’s a very handy ability. If your Stamina hits 0 during a fight, you’ve got high odds of your bracelet fully restoring your Stamina and giving you a strength and defense buff for a little while. It isn’t fully reliable though, so keep your wits about ya.” Jewels answered.

“Pin or make them submit… huh…” Rex thought to himself.

Elsewhere, in the Industrial District, Maria and Yoko’s ship had finally arrived. The searched the area and only seemed to find Misplaced roaming around. They met up at the District Gate to deliver their findings.

“Then conclusively we can say he’s not in this district. Let’s check the others just to be sure he isn’t here though.” Maria told Yoko.

“If we can get some grub while we’re at it…” Yoko groaned.

“You need to lay off the snacks, got it? I refuse to have a repeat of the previous world we were in.” Maria scolded as she opened the doors.

They then entered the doors coming out into the Hotel District. From there the search began yet again. They were trying not to leave a single stone unturned. Meanwhile in the Safe District, Rex had just exited Jewels’ shop after a long lecture on Momentum for the tenth time...

“The Misplaced are naturally drawn to Black Momentum users. They’re especially fond of people where that Momentum has instilled darkness in the victim’s heart. You have The Beast inside you… that means they’ll know where you are no matter where you go, until they devour you and make you one of them.” a woman’s voice spoke.

He quickly looked to his left to spot a tall, muscular, yet well-endowed dark-skinned woman in wrestling gear. She had long white hair and sparkling jade eyes. On her arms were silver Heart Defender Gauntlets bearing green gemstones, matching her attire’s color scheme. She had a scar on the left side of her face going from her forehead to her jawline.

“Who are you?” Rex asked.

“Still… why would The Beast choose a kid like you? No growth potential and is a total novice, what’s she thinking?” the woman contemplated ignoring his question.

“Hey, I asked a question!” Rex barked.

“Whatever. Come with me kid… you need to have that removed, it’ll just end in death for you.” she scoffed walking toward him and Yellow Momentum appeared around his feet shifting him back from her at insane speed.

“There’s no way you’re getting this…” Rex growled.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, kid…” she sighed when out of nowhere several Misplaced appeared leaping at her.

Rex took the opportunity to flee into the Hotel District while they had her attention. Once there he had to continue fleeing from the Misplaced. When he ran by the doors to a hotel he got yanked inside. Whoever had him covered his mouth dragging him into a pink room. They then locked the door and fall on the bed holding him until he bit their hand hard enough to make it bleed.

“YEOW!!! Some way of thanking someone for saving your life…” a girls’ voice whined.

He rolled off the bed getting to his feet looking at his savior. She was a teenage girl with long brown hair worn in a ponytail dressed in a maid outfit. She already had a first aid kit out and was treating her bite wound.

“What’s the big idea just grabbing me like that?” Rex asked in a wary stance.

“You were in trouble… and every building has an Anti-Misplaced Stone inlaid to keep them out. You’re 100% safe in here.” she told him.

“Then why didn’t you just call out to me?” Rex asked.

“You’d have been way past me by the time you would’ve heard me. You’re welcome…” she scoffed.

“Why’d you cover my mouth like you were kidnapping me then?” he asked.

“I didn’t mean to… plus my boss would’ve had my head if he’d heard me bringing a kid into an adults only hotel.” she replied as she finished wrapping bandages around her hand.

“There’s better ways of telling someone to be quiet.” Rex growled.

“I’m sorry, okay? At least be a little thankful…” she sighed.

“What’s up with all of the Misplaced here though?” Rex asked crossing his arms.

“That’s common knowledge. Nobody’s defeated the General of this world, and so Misplaced keep pouring out of the World Heart. Unless someone takes the World Heart into themselves so the Misplaced can’t use it as a gate, we’ll have an incurable infestation.” she replied standing up.

“World Heart?” Rex asked scratching his head.

“You’re kidding right? The World Heart is this world’s heart, literally. Every world has one. The Misplaced found a way to travel between them though. That’s when Heart Defenders learned how to take World Hearts into their own, for protection. We haven’t had a Heart Defender competent enough to deal with the threat for a while now…” she explained.

“Huh… where is this General?” Rex asked.

“The Arena District, why?” she inquired.

“No reason. Thanks for the save, later.” Rex told her before running out of the hotel vaulting the rail to a lower area to begin exploring.

When a Misplaced appeared he modified his combo to use be a dazing punch, a clotheslines, and then an elbow drop bouncing off it to his feet. Just as Jewels had said, all he had to do was have it pinned for a second and it burst into black mist. He kept going until he came to the doors he’d went through with the janitor woman.

“Hey, kid! We’ve got some questions for you!” Maria’s voice called from behind him making him look seeing the two charging.

The sight made him panic rushing into the Arena District. The two women began to go top speed to try and catch up. After the bridge was a drop off with a ramp to the left. Rex forgot about this and skid to a stop a few inches from the edge. Maria then collided with his back almost taking him off the edge until Yoko tripped crashing into both of them going over the edge landing in a pile.

“Stupid kid… someone says they have questions you stop…” Maria groaned trying to pull herself from under Yoko and Rex’s combined weight.

“Oh… the bracelet.” Yoko observed with Rex’s arm in her face when all of a sudden all exits became blocked by pillars as Misplaced began to appear making the three right themselves.

“Misplaced!” Maria exclaimed as they charged.

Yoko charged up with a red light and began plowing through some as Maria charged with blue light surfacing along the ground as if on a skateboard. Maria unleashed blue blasts of energy at them ending her combo’s with a cross-body leap whereas Yoko overpowered hers and landed package piledrivers to end them. When the last one fell, an air of unease came over the three…

“Above us!” Maria exclaimed.

From the heavens a female-shaped black form-fitting suit with a white breastplate bearing the Misplaced emblem, matching white combat skirt, and matching gauntlets and greaves belly-flopped onto the ground appearing to be just a colossal outfit. It remained flat as if empty for a second until it suddenly bounced to its feet filling out to a busty and curvaceous form. The last touch was a metal knight helmet dropping from the sky landing perfectly in the palm of its left hand so it could place the helmet where its head should be where the visor then dropped revealing darkness inside along with glowing red eyes. Rex’s bracelet then scanned it…

[Misplaced Entry #02]  
Name: Metal Beauty  
Class: Emblem Misplaced - Lieutenant  
Description: A giant of a Misplaced that guards a fragment of the World Heart in Tango Town. It moves in a seductive fashion right until it’s ready to strike. Without its armor, especially the breastplate, it seems to lose all will to exist quietly laying out accepting death by pin.  
[End Entry]

“Take out the armor!” Maria ordered and the three began to take on the massive Misplaced.

They attacked each piece of armor continuously, even if Rex didn’t seem to be doing much at all. Maria and Yoko did most of the work, due to Rex seeming to lack any ability to inflict damage on the Misplaced. After a bad hit from it knocked all three down, Rex’s fists and feet began to glow with darkness.

“The Beast’s power…” Maria gasped as Rex charged making time slow down as he left after images in his wake.

He leapt to the chest plate and a ball of darkness formed around his right fist. He unleashed his fist and the blast pierced the Misplaced’s chestplate with a beam of darkness that also pierced its body. It began to fall over as Rex landed on it. The minute they landed the Misplaced exploded into a tornado of darkness around Rex that then formed into a brightly shining pink fragment of a heart-shaped crystal.

[LEVEL UP - REX]  
-Max Stamina Up! +3  
-Offense Increased! +2

[LEVEL UP - MARIA]  
-Technique Up! +2

[LEVEL UP - YOKO]  
-Max Stamina Up! +3  
-Defense Increased! +2

Rex stood up as his bracelet began to resonate with the crystal piece. It then turned to energy and entered Rex’s chest making him groan a bit as light shined around him for a minute making the darkness on his hands and feet vanish. When the light faded Rex’s vision began to shake and he passed out falling forward into Maria’s arms.

“This kid has The Beast in him? Well, he matches Sophia’s description, so I guess this is him…” Maria sighed lifting him up.

“I know it’s him by looking at that bracelet.” Yoko pointed out.

“Yoko, you carry him. We’re taking him to Abraham Gear.” Maria ordered forcing him into her arms.

The two then took him to the shop and set him on the sofa. Jewels was absolutely paralyzed to see two veteran Heart Defenders there. Maria explained what happened in the Arena District to her while Yoko scanned Rex’s bracelet. Three solid hours passed until finally…

“What happened…?” Rex asked sitting up holding his chest.

“It was only for a brief moment, but you unleashed the dark power of The Beast calling Black Momentum to your body. You shouldn’t use Momentum period if you don’t have a firm grasp of Momentum Theory.” Maria scolded getting in his face.

“I tried teaching him Momentum Theory, but he doesn’t quite get it yet I’m afraid…” Jewels sighed while itching the back of her head.

“He might be a hands-on learner.” Yoko suggested to Maria.

“Ugh… I hate getting hands-on with noobs…” Maria groaned when all of a sudden a paper airplane glided in the window bouncing off her nose.

“A paper airplane?” Yoko asked as Maria unfolded it.

“A letter from Sophia!” Maria exclaimed reading it with Yoko shoulder watching.

“Dear my beloved friends, if this letter has found its way to you then that means you found him. I knew you could do it! Now I can give you further instructions. You’ve gotta get him certified at HQ. You know very well what that means going forward… but you can’t back down. I’ve got a hunch there’s something the council doesn’t want found out about the Bearer of the Beast as he’s called. It’s imperative that he’s prepared to take on the Match of Certification once he’s at HQ. Maria. I know how much you LOVE training newbies, which is why I’m making you his official tutor! No complaining, because Yoko’s helping too! I’ll contact you again at a milestone in his training, and I might even send a present.” -Your Friend, Sophia

“Ooh, that friggin’ nugget! How DARE she put me in charge of that?! She knows I HATE teaching!” Maria roared as Yoko giggled.

“It’s not so bad, Maria. If he’s hands-on then you can save the complicated explanations and give him simple stuff to try on me.” Yoko told her ruffling her hair prompting a fist to the gut that didn’t do anything to her.

“Don’t treat me like a kid because I’m a little short.” Maria growled.

“Who are you two…? What’s going on…?” Rex asked.

“We’re Heart Defenders. Not exactly Masters, but we’re definitely approaching the need to apply for the Match of Mastery. I’m Yoko and this is Maria. We were sent to get you.” Yoko replied.

“They came under orders from the General Master of Heart Defenders, Sophia. From what they told me, this is technically an unsanctioned event. The Council of Defenders already knows about you and is preparing to come after you.” Jewels told him.

“So you’re coming with us, end of story.” Maria huffed.

“All because of my bracelet…?” Rex asked looking at his wrist.

“The Beast is a big deal, you know. I don’t know why you need to be certified as a Heart Defender when you already have a Master-Student Contract, but if Sophia says we have to then we don’t have a choice.” Yoko told him.

“Before we can do ANYTHING I need to get him proficient in combat as a Heart Defender. I saw how sloppy he was during that battle, he obviously doesn’t know how to slot Momentum.” Maria barked.

“There isn’t a working arena around these parts…” Jewels told them.

“That’s fine, every Dimension Jumper has a match facility on-board for when we’ve got downtime while the ship autopilots.” Maria retorted.

“Dimension Jumper?” Rex asked tilting his head.

“Our vessel. It lets us go between the many worlds. We had the coordinates for this world letting us come immediately, but it looks like we launched a bit prematurely and forgot to record HQ’s coordinates into the system… so we’ll unfortunately be taking the long way.” Yoko laughed.

“What if I don’t want to go?” Rex asked squinting his eyes.

“You’ll live as a criminal trying to survive on this world and never see the world you came from again.” Maria threatened.

“He’s just a kid, Maria. There’s no reason to threaten him like that. Apologize this instant.” Yoko growled.

“No. It’s the truth. The sooner he understands the position he’s in the better and easier it’ll be to get moving and training.” Maria scoffed making Yoko lift her into a bear hug from behind.

“Apologize!” Yoko ordered squeezing her compatriot without remorse.

“No! I won’t apologize for telling the truth!” Maria barked back trying to wriggle free.

“Admit you were wrong!” Yoko barked shaking her as she squeezed more.

“Stop, stop, I’m getting dizzy!” Maria howled, and the two were stopped by Rex bursting into laughter.

“What’s up, kid?” Jewels asked.

“I needed to know who I was agreeing to go with. That display proved they have no ulterior motives to hide from me.” Rex chuckled.

“You’ll come?” Yoko asked.

“I don’t have anything to lose from it, plus I get free lessons from veterans in the field.” Rex smiled.

“Great!” Yoko exclaimed dropping Maria to shake his hand.

“Friggin’ Amazon…” Maria groaned.

“Come on, let’s get to the ship. Trust me, you’ll love it.” Yoko smiled walking Rex along purposely stepping on Maria’s back.

“YOU’RE DEAD!!!” Maria roared leaping onto Yoko’s back wrapping her legs around her body as she put her head in a sleeper headlock, but didn’t seem to be doing anything despite her effort.

Once they returned to the Industrial District and exited the doors, Rex couldn’t believe his eyes seeing the massive ship. When he got on-board he couldn’t help exploring. The ship seemed to be mainly composed of a spacious cockpit, a four-bed barrack, a bathroom with a pretty snazzy shower, a kitchen with a built-in dining area, and last but not least a large workout area with its own regulation-sized ring. Connecting these areas were halls and stairs.

“What do you think?” Yoko asked while finally deciding to pry the still-furious Maria off of her.

“It’s awesome!” Rex exclaimed.

“That ring is where we’ll be instructing you today onward. Look forward to your first day of training in the morning.” Yoko smiled.

“It’s about five now, so, Yoko, start cooking.” Maria scoffed.

“I thought we took turns making dinner?” Yoko moaned.

“You pissed me off, so you get to go again.” Maria growled crossing her arms.

“You had an agreement, so if you’ve got honor as a wrestler you’ll uphold it.” Rex told Maria causing a surprised reaction.

“That’s totally something Sophia would say!” Yoko laughed.

“Listen brat, I don’t need lip from you.” Maria growled getting in his face.

“You saying you can go toe-to-toe with me just because you’re a veteran at wrestling? If you think you intimidate me then you’re dead wrong because I’ve put bully-type adults like you in their place before.” Rex smirked pressing his forehead on hers.

“Ooh, shade… your move, Maria…” Yoko giggled watching the two.

“You’re lucky that I have an oath to uphold my honor…” Maria growled before stomping off to the kitchen.

Elsewhere in a dark chamber, ten cloaked people stood around a portal showing the boy. All had stares of contempt, except for an elderly woman with very faded red hair using a cane to help her walk.

“The boy is a threat to all worlds…” one of the men spoke.

“Their ship will need to make quite a few stops to return here without coordinates… why don’t we lead them to a world where they’ll be doomed to perish at the hands of the Misplaced?” one of the women suggested.

“No, we can’t trust the Misplaced. Bumbling as those two are, they’re still very skilled Defenders. I say we deal with him ourselves.” another of the men scoffed.

“Silence.” the faded red-haired woman commanded and they all knelt.

“Have you all forgotten? If we directly intervene then we shall see a repeat of The Beast’s legend… let us learn from history, and allow another to deal with him.” she spoke.

“Who would you have carry out the deed?” another of the women asked.

“I was thinking of Margaret the Grey Duchess… one who has the power to bend the Misplaced to her will.” she smirked.

“You can’t truthfully mean to make a deal with The Grey Duchess?! She may turn on us and fill Headquarters with Misplaced!” one of the women asked in a panic.

“I will make the deal… I am old, and will not be High Councilor for much longer. I can’t even throw a decent punch anymore. She has longed to make me into her slave. So before I strike it I shall name my successor, for the future of the Heart Defenders.” she told them.

[To Be Continued…]  
-End of Chapter Stats-

[Rex]  
Lvl: 2  
Stamina: 23/23  
Momentum: 2/2  
Offense: 7  
Defense: 3  
Technique: 1  
Abilities: Underdog (Master Ability).  
-Momentum Mastery-  
Red: 0/100%  
Blue: 0/100%  
Yellow: 0/100%  
Green: 0/100%  
Purple: 0/100%  
White: 0/100%  
Black: 33/100%  
Momentum Skills: None.

[Maria]  
Lvl: 3  
Stamina: 17/17  
Momentum: 6/6  
Offense: 3  
Defense: 3  
Technique: 8  
Abilities: Blue Channeler.  
-Momentum Mastery-  
Red: 0/100%  
Blue: 66/100%  
Yellow: 0/100%  
Green: 0/100%  
Purple: 0/100%  
White: 33/100%  
Black: 0/100%  
Momentum Skills: Healing (Lvl1 White; 1 Momentum), Frost Blast (Lvl2 Blue Skill; 2 Momentum).

[Yoko]  
Lvl: 4  
Stamina: 28/28  
Momentum: 3/3  
Offense: 5  
Defense: 7  
Technique: 3  
Abilities: Berserker.  
-Momentum Mastery-  
Red: 99/100%  
Blue: 0/100%  
Yellow: 0/100%  
Green: 0/100%  
Purple: 0/100%  
White: 0/100%  
Black: 0/100%  
Momentum Skills: Rampage (Lvl3 Red; Invulnerable when berserking).


	2. To Worlds Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex & friends arrive at Twisted Castle for a number of things, and Rex encounters an unexpected person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter RPG add-ons will cease, because I'm lazy.

Rex found himself being shaken awake near the crack of dawn. He was then yanked from from bunk by Yoko. She rushed him through brushing his teeth and eating a decent breakfast before going to the training area. Maria was impatiently tapping her foot as Yoko got him in the ring.

“Morning newbie. Your training begins now.” Maria smirked.

“Do we have to start so early…?” Rex asked while letting out a yawn.

“You kidding? Waking at the crack of dawn to train is daily routine for Heart Defenders. Masters have been known to pull multiple all nighters training before finally sleeping. We’ve gotta get you into the habit of this so you can adjust. I’ve got my work cut out for me training you how to properly wrestle, so no complaining.” Maria lectured.

“What do you mean? I know how to wrestle already.” Rex told her.

“Pfft, how to make it look like you can wrestle yeah, but you’ve got no form, no grace, and no poise; in other words you’re a poser. Performing wrestling moves and using wrestling moves are two totally different things. More importantly you don’t have a clue how to use Momentum. So we’ll take it one color at a time until you can use them effectively.” Maria scoffed.

“You’re going too fast, he’s gotta stretch first.” Yoko scolded her.

“Fine, help him stretch then.” Maria growled turning her back.

Yoko did exactly that as Maria began getting some equipment set up in the ring. She also set up a podium with a textbook on it. Once Rex was nice and limber she opened the book to the index, looked for a specific subject, and nodded before turning forward several pages.

“Okay, first thing’s first… The Properties of Momentum. Each color corresponds to an element. They’re aligned as follows: red to fire, blue to water, green to earth, yellow to energy, purple to gravity, white to light, and black to darkness. Each one has a strength and weakness with the exception of Purple Momentum. Keep that in mind if an opponent keeps cancelling your moves with its weakness.” Maria lectured.

“That sounds complicated.” Rex commented.

“Yoko, draw the diagram on the page on the whiteboard.” Maria instructed.

“Now, the flow goes Fire, Earth, Energy, Water. Now, you’ll notice in the diagram that Light and Darkness circle these four in half-circles whereas Gravity encircles all of them. The reason for this is because the four base elements are split into Emotional and Rational Momentums. Fire and Energy are Emotional and are encircled by Darkness. Water and Earth are Rational and are encircled by Light. Guess what this means for their affinity.” Maria instructed.

“Um… Emotionals are weak to Darkness and Rationals are weak to Light?” Rex guessed while scratching his head.

“Very close! It’s the other way around: Emotionals are immune to Darkness and Rationals are immune to Light, making Emotionals weak to Light and Rationals weak to Darkness. Gravity circles all of them because it has neither a weakness or a strength, thus doing constant damage to the opponent regardless of the defense color they use.” Maria lectured.

“Okay, with the diagram it makes more sense than how Jewels told me it worked…” Rex commented.

“Now as for the base four: Fire is strong to Earth but weak to Water, Earth is strong to Energy but weak to Fire, Energy is strong to Water but weak to Earth, and Water is strong to Fire but weak to Energy. Did you get all that?” Maria asked.

“More or less.” Rex shrugged.

“Good. Now we’re going to talk about Socketing Momentum.” Maria nodded.

“You can socket it?” Rex asked.

“Yeah. It’s done using the Momentis Core of your Proof of Contract, or in other words the bracelet you’re wearing and our gauntlets. Let me show you how to set it up…” Maria told him while taking his bracelet wrist feeling the gems.

The gems then began to glow making the bracelet expand to cover his entire forearm as a tiny table jutted out revealing a black crystal in a central depression. Maria looked genuinely confused and motioned Yoko to come look. Both felt over the table and were completely dumbstruck, until Maria got a look of clarity. She then began to laugh…

“You don’t have a Momentis Plate! THAT’S why you only have the Core and no additional slots!” Maria laughed.

“What’s that?” Rex asked tilting his head.

“It’s a special plate with crystals able to channel colors of Momentum into them for future use. It goes over the center crystal, or the “Core” symbolizing your contract, allowing you to socket extra colors to it so you can master multiple colors at once.” Yoko explained as Maria doubled over on the verge of tears.

“W-We-We’re training a total noob! We’re so boned!” Maria laughed through her tears.

“Maria, everyone has to start somewhere. How can you laugh when you started in a worse position?” Yoko asked.

“I didn’t have red growth potential. What you don’t understand is that this is a suicide mission that Sophia’s got us on… but here we are anyway because we can’t say no to her.” Maria replied wiping a tear.

“Then how about you stop whining and try putting your best effort toward training me then?” Rex asked crossing his arms with a stern look.

“He’s right. We’ll get him a plate later, so let’s just move on to Using Moves instead of Performing Moves. He’s got a lot to be desired in that department.” Yoko smiled patting Maria’s back.

“Fine. I’m not going easy on you though.” Maria growled.

For three days Maria instructed Rex with Yoko as his partner for learning how to adapt to opponent’s movements and countering. Yoko just had to be mindful of her own strength since Rex couldn’t use Momentum just yet. She didn’t tell him, but she removed her defense socket so he could successfully pull off moves on her without needing an attack socket. It would be a problem later if he didn’t get a Momentis Plate, but it was best to build his confidence so he can adapt quickly later on.

On the fourth morning he woke up on time, but their of his mentors were in the ring area. He made his way to the cockpit and hid by the door. They were apparently receiving a transmission.

“I will only ask once more, turn him over willingly.” a distorted voice asked.

“I’ll only tell you once more, we aren’t handing him over. Sophia’s orders carry more weight than yours ever will.” Maria replied looking very angry.

“Then prepare to go down with him.” the voice told them before the transmission ended.

“Man, first the Misplaced Alert from countless worlds between here and HQ, now the council is flat out threatening us.” Yoko sighed.

“Ah, let ‘em threaten us. Like they’re actually a threat…” Maria scoffed as Rex came out of hiding.

“I really am wanted because of The Beast, huh?” Rex asked.

“Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.” Maria smiled giving him a thumbs up.

“We’re almost at our first stop. We desperately need to recharge the ship’s batteries since we didn’t get the chance at Tango Town, so while we’re there we’ll take care of their Misplaced problem.” Yoko told him.

“Can we get a Momentis Plate while we’re there?” Rex asked.

“Probably?” Maria replied thinking on it.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find one for you soon enough.” Yoko smiled reassuringly.

At Heart Defender HQ, the letter had been delivered to The Grey Duchess… but for some time it’d remained unanswered. That is… until today. The lights in the council chamber began to violently flicker until all at once they went out and reignited with purple flames. The double doors to the room became engraved with depictions of blazing red and dark purple thorns and veins. The glass became red and black stained glass depicting a broken heart. They then began to slowly open showing pitch black darkness within.

From that darkness the clicks and clacks of heels could be heard, and then a woman emerged. She bore long luscious black hair reaching her knees in length tied in a ponytail, and her form was busty, voluptuous, and refined in every step she took. She wore black heeled boots going to her knees, jet black thigh-length tights, a black and grey gown split to expose most of her right leg also bearing a long V on the front to expose her cleavage and moderately defined abs, bicep-length black gloves, a studded black choker bearing a skull charm, black lipstick and grey eyeliner, and at last a dark grey wide-brimmed witch hat bearing a skull design on the shaft hiding her red eyes. At her side was a small dwarf of a gargoyle carrying a book and quill dressed only in a black loincloth. The younger council members shook in fear… for there could be no doubt about this woman’s identity… The Grey Duchess.

“S-She truly came…” one of the women managed to choke out.

“I’ve come under the summons of Chief Counselor Aranea, who desires to strike a deal.” she smirked.

“Yes, Duchess. The Beast has chosen a young boy to be its host, likely to deter us from taking the capital punishment approach. The people would go ballistic if we suddenly held the Execution Match of one so young… but if he were to fall prey to one of your Misplaced, it would simply be another unfortunate loss to your Malice.” Counselor Aranea grinned.

“Hmhm, claim the life of an innocent boy? Are you that paranoid of the truth getting out?” the Grey Duchess giggled.

“We are hardly concerned with the truth being known. It is what The Beast will do once she returns here that we fear. What is the life of one boy to the lives of thousands?” Counselor Aranea chuckled.

“What do I get out of snuffing this boy’s light?” she asked.

“You will get to taint my heart and turn me into a Misplaced… what you’ve been after for countless years now.” Counselor Aranea replied.

“Hmm… such a tasty deal…” the duchess smirked licking her lips.

“You will not claim me until after the job is done.” Counselor Aranea told her.

“How will I know you’ll keep your word if I don’t claim you up front…? You could be lying to me…” she giggled as the gargoyle ran up to Aranea opening his book to a page bearing a contract and then presented the quill to her while giggling maliciously.

“A Sin Contract…” one of the other counselors gasped.

“You know what signing that will mean, correct?” the duchess smirked tipping her hat.

“For the people…” she sighed before taking a deep breath and signing the contract.

“Well, most certainly I can trust you now… at least a small bit. Keep in mind, I’ll be watching… and won’t be happy if you betray me even after signing this contract.” the Grey Duchess giggled swaying her hips as she walked back to the door with her gargoyle close behind.

“Then we have a deal? You won’t show him any mercy?” Counselor Aranea asked fervently.

“My dear counselor, if there’s one thing I’m not… it’s dishonest.” she winked before closing the doors.

The door then returned to normal as the lights flickered back to normal. All that was left was for the Council of Advisors was to play the fool and refuse to acknowledge his existence. If any of the Masters found out about this contract it would expose the truth Aranea was trying to hide. So they could only wait…

Meanwhile, back on the Starry Sky, Rex and friends were approaching a world known as Twisting Castle. The world is known for its confusing landscape that seems to change every time they’re about to figure it out. The Misplaced were going to be a bit tougher than the ones back in Tango Town. Maria stated their first priority was to find a plate for Rex to use.

They safely landed on the outskirts of the castletown wall. Once they were off the ship Maria activated the “ghost” function making it ethereal and invisible. With that done she had to help Yoko keep Rex from running off.

“You can’t just go running around, there could be Misplaced anywhere around here!” Maria scolded him.

“Sorry…” Rex sighed.

“Don’t be so hard on him, this is only the second world not counting his own that he’s been to. Can you blame him for wanting to see it?” Yoko asked.

“Don’t you play the ‘fun parent’ on me!” Maria barked.

“Oh right! What world are you from? We should tell your parents where you are.” Yoko asked him, and Rex immediately got sadder.

“I… lived in a foster home that barely tolerated me. I don’t even know my birth parents’ names. The only thing I do know is they’re the ones who named me.” Rex admitted.

“Way to go, Yoko…” Maria snickered.

“It isn’t a laughing matter.” Yoko scolded her.

“Well, cheer up kid. You’re undertaking a profession that no matter who they are will make them proud.” Maria smiled at him.

“I see a town over there. Let’s go check it out.” Yoko suggested.

The three began moving toward the town as suggested, but they were being watched. The Grey Duchess was using a Target Eye to view her target. She couldn’t help but laugh about the fact that they really were scared of a boy his age. That being said, the two around him were going to be trouble. Once the three entered town she snapped her fingers making some Misplaced appear.

She watched as Rex struggled, forced to have his mentors help him out of danger multiple times. Her smirk was big until he unleashed the Underdog Ability. He fully recovered from his wounds as Dark Momentum charged his hands and feet. He moved fast taking out each one with acrobatic grace. She’d forgotten… The Beast was inside him… so no ordinary Misplaced was going to kill him. She’d have to concoct something…

[LEVEL UP: REX]  
-Offense Up! + 2  
-Defense Up! + 2  
-Learned Ability: Dark Guard (Use darkness to guard an enemy attack, also cuts damage from dark attacks by half on top of the guard buff)

[LEVEL UP: YOKO]  
-Offense Up! +2  
-Learned Ability: Bulwark Guard (Warp to guard Rex from all incoming attacks when he’s in danger)

[LEVEL UP: MARIA]  
-Momentum Up! +1  
-Learned Ability: Momentum Rage (Regains Momentum when hurt in battle allowing more moves to be performed)

[Misplaced Entry #03]  
Name: Target Eye  
Class: Emblem Misplaced  
Description: A small flying Misplaced that takes aim from the sky and fires a beam of energy at Rex & friends if its focus isn’t disrupted. This version is weak all around, but other varieties can be glass cannons so beware.  
[End Entry]

[Misplaced Entry #04]  
Name: Tornado Maid  
Class: Emblem Misplaced  
Description: These Misplaced look shockingly like human maids but haven’t quite got their disguise down yet as they lack human skin color, plus the Misplaced emblem plastered on their chests is a big giveaway. Be careful of when they spin like ballerinas - the knives on the rim of their skirt aren’t for show!  
[End Entry]

[Misplaced Entry #05]  
Name: Sir Clumsy  
Class: Emblem Misplaced  
Description: This large knight Misplaced wields a huge sword… but unfortunately for both parties that makes it top-heavy and often misses its target, but beware the damage when it connects! It may earn its name, but it’s still a threat.  
[End Entry]

The three pressed on to the safe zone where many people greeted them. Apparently a Heart Defender had already come but never returned. Maria ordered Rex to wait outside the mayor’s house while they discussed the situation. Rex didn’t like it, but he couldn’t exactly talk back.

“They won’t be able to find where that man went.” a girl’s voice spoke alerting Rex to the presence of a small girl in commoner clothing.

“What do you mean?” he asked her.

“The man with the funny-looking gauntlets asked for additional information, so I told him I saw a huge Misplaced in the castle. After he went there, the castle vanished. It only shows up at night now.” she explained.

“So, the Misplaced got the better of him?” Rex asked her.

“I dunno. Maybe he’s still fighting it now.” the girl replied with a giggle.

“I’ll be sure to tell Maria and Yoko about the castle.” Rex smiled.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna go by yourself?” she asked taking his bracelet hand equipping it with a Momentis Plate bearing two extra slots, one occupied by Red Momentum and the other by Blue Momentum.

[Rex: Momentis Plate Equipped - Double Standard]

“Where’d you get this?” he asked her, but she was mysteriously gone.

Rex thought about it more as he waited. He was only inept because he didn’t have one of these plates in his bracelet. It already had another Momentum color in it, so he should in theory be able to hold his own at least a little now. That made him think back on how Maria kept mocking him, and that agitation made him resolve to do it. It was getting close to nightfall, so he was going to go to that castle, defeat the Misplaced that was seen there, and prove he wasn’t useless or beyond help.

He began on his way down the castle road. Misplaced appeared, and as Maria had said the Momentis Plate would do, his fists were aglow with Red Momentum making his attacks and moves deal far more damage. He could take these chumps without breaking a sweat now. The difference was night and day! With fire on his hands to deal damage and darkness on his feet for swift evasion, he felt invincible!

Eventually he made it to where the castle was supposed to be. There he had to wait a bit for the moon to rise and shed light over the area. After thirty minutes of waiting, at last, the castle appeared. He ran across the drawbridge and immediately had to deal with some Misplaced in the foyer. They were just as easy as the ones outside. He was even able to suplex a new one that’d shown up.

[Misplaced Entry #06]  
Name: Sir Bubble  
Class: Emblem Misplaced  
Description: A large rotund Misplaced that uses its large arms to crush enemies and uses its thick body and sturdy armor to guard incoming attacks. They’re surprisingly susceptible to back moves such as suplexes though.  
[End Entry]

Once there the lights began to dim. He carefully made his way into another room to find a study with a fireplace. Resting against the fireplace wielding a very large sword was a man with brown hair dressed in just black ring boots and somewhat baggy dark green pants bearing several thick black belts. He had a somewhat scary air around him. Rex then noticed the full-arm gauntlets that also made part of a chest piece on him.

“Excuse me… are you by chance a Heart Defender?” Rex asked.

“What of it?” he replied in a cold tone.

“Um… I’m looking to root out the Captain Misplaced of this world. I was hoping maybe we could work together?” Rex told him.

“A kid like you? What do you hope to accomplish? You know you’re being hunted, yet you’re wasting time helping others.” he scoffed.

“I’m gonna prove them wrong. I don’t need the approval of some old fogies to do good across the worlds.” Rex told him.

“You don’t care, huh?” he asked standing up brandishing his sword.

“That’s right.” Rex nervously replied standing his ground.

“Good. Keep that mindset no matter what. That council will do whatever it takes to make sure The Beast never becomes instated as a Master again.” he nodded loosening his stance.

“I’m pretty stubborn.” Rex nervously chuckled.

“The target’s in the ballroom. Let’s go.” he ordered heading for the door.

The two worked together taking down Misplaced in the foyer. Rex had to be very wary due to his sword. At the top of the stairs the man stopped him.

“How come you aren’t using a Soul Weapon?” he asked.

“Aren’t weapons forbidden?” Rex asked back.

“We may abide by that, but the Misplaced don’t. You’ve seen them with weapons already. In those instances it is fine to unleash a Soul Weapon against them. Of course, I’ve become so accustomed that I use one regardless of the Misplaced I fight now.” he replied.

“So it’s a more effective way of fighting the Misplaced?” Rex asked.

“You can say that. Want me to teach you how to call it forth and use it in battle?” he offered.

“Please?!” Rex excitedly accepted.

“First, form the image of the weapon in your mind.” he told him.

“Okay.” Rex nodded closing his eyes.

“Once you have it… focus Momentum through your body…” he instructed as Dark Momentum began to flow through Rex’s body.

“I… think I’ve got it…” Rex groaned.

“Now, you must will it into existence. Use the Momentum to bring your Soul Weapon to life.” he instructed.

Rex opened his eyes and flicked his wrist making the Momentum surge to his hand and form a hilariously big sword nearly three times his height. It seemed to radiate with darkness, but was weightless to him. Was this a Soul Weapon?

“Good job, but try to be a little realistic with the proportions next time. It’ll be better for multiple situations.” he sighed putting a white chain bracelet on Rex’s free wrist making Rex’s new Soul Weapon turn into a charm attached to it.

“Whoa... “ Rex gasped.

“Now you can recall it and dismiss it as you please. This bracelet will let you retain up to nine Soul Weapon designs.” he explained.

“Awesome!” Rex exclaimed.

“Now when we face it you have a means of defending yourself other than just a quick escape. Countering with a Soul Weapon is sometimes the only way to escape a tight situation with Misplaced.” he informed him.

“So they can be defensive too?” Rex asked.

“Even a proper shield can be a proper weapon when employed correctly. You may even learn a few things from the Misplaced if you watch them close enough.” he smirked.

“Awesome…” Rex grinned.

The two then entered the ballroom. It was dark inside with no lights on. The pair carefully approached the center when a spotlight turned on showing a busty curvaceous humanoid Misplaced with jet black flesh and its emblem acting as its face. Its body was dressed in a blood red formal gown with white trim, bicep-length blood red gloves, and blood red shoes with sparkling silver blades acting as heels. It then twirled around to face them and let out an almost angelic harmony of notes out despite not having a mouth.

[Misplaced Entry #08]  
Name: Lady Blades  
Class: Emblem Misplaced - Captain  
Description: A Misplaced that has feasted on many people’s hearts causing its power to grow to such heights that it was able to devour a World Heart. Upon doing so it gained the ability to call other Misplaced to the world it inhabits to do its bidding. Her voice can enslave those who aren’t careful.  
[End Entry]

“Take it out fast.” he ordered charging it.

Rex summoned his sword changing its proportions to be somewhat more wieldy. He then joined the fray with his ally to combat it. The Misplaced danced using its blade heels to block and counter them at every turn. Its athleticism was surprising given the kind of dress it was wearing. It quite literally danced through their attacks.

“Our attacks are useless…” Rex groaned.

“It’ll slip up eventually.” his ally told him charging back in.

“Or… we might need a different approach…” Rex thought to himself making for the columns under the second floor balcony.

He hid behind them carefully sneaking his way back toward the fight using the columns as a means to hide. The captain was toying with his ally now easily blocking each swing with a single heel as it laughed cockily. When Rex was at the last column he signaled his ally to somehow begin walking it back toward him.

With not a lot of options, when it thrust its leg in retaliation to his swings he allowed its heel to enter his right shoulder. He then grabbed hold of its thigh making it gasp as he began pushing back. The heel planted on the floor made a horrific screeching sound as it was pushed back. At last then it was close enough Rex leapt out, grabbed it by the waist, and channeled Red Momentum was he performed a hard German Suplex also removing its heel from his ally’s shoulder making it come off clattering on the floor.

Rex held it in the slammed position as his ally picked up the shoe. He then leapt over Rex aiming the heel down. The sight made the Misplaced wriggle trying to get loose, but Rex held firm thanks to the Momentum he’d employed enhancing his grip and strength.

“Let’s see how you like it!” his ally roared slamming the heel into its face making a purple liquid squirt out of its head fountaining all over the floor and him.

Rex let go of the Misplaced when at last it went limp. Both were breathing heavily as its chest began to emit a bright light and a massive blue heart crystal encased in a beautiful silver frame floated out and into the center of the room. Rex tiredly walked toward it and his chest began to glow brightly. The heart then descended rapidly and entered his body making him emit a blinding light startling his ally. The fallen Misplaced then faded into darkness.

[GET BONUS: REX]  
-Ability: Mixed Combo (Allows Rex to continuously switch between wrestling moves and Soul Weapons during a combo).

[NEW ITEM]  
-World Heart (Twisted Castle)

“A World Heart, an embodiment of light, accepted you as its bearer… that’s undeniable proof that something’s fishy.” Rex’s ally spoke as he retrieved his sword.

“Fishy with what?” Rex asked with his arms behind his head.

“The Council said that the Bearer of the Beast taints World Hearts, that they’d never enter their body because of the corruption within them… yet it seemed quite content to enter your body. You completely contradict what they’ve told us for generations.” he replied.

“Huh… think they’d never actually had one try?” Rex asked.

“No… I think that they have some explaining to do.” he replied walking for the door, but then he stopped.

“Something wrong?” Rex asked.

“I never got your name, kid.” he replied.

“Oh! I’m Rex.” Rex chuckled.

“I’m Master Vincent. Keep up the good work, and tell the girls that you have my approval.” he smiled over his shoulder before leaving.

“He knows Yoko and Maria...?” Rex asked himself as he began to approach the doors.

When he got to the drawbridge it was early morning, and the castle was still where it was supposed to be. He made his way back to town where a furious Maria was waiting, Yoko was holding her back.

“Where were you?! We looked everywhere!” Maria screamed at him.

“I took out the Captain Misplaced of this world with the help of Master Vincent. He said to tell you that I have his approval.” Rex told her confidently.

“Master Vincent?!” both exclaimed in shock.

“Yep. He believed that I was good after I absorbed one of those World Heart things.” he nodded with a wide smile.

“You absorbed a World Heart too?!” Maria exclaimed.

“Maria, this means the Council…” Yoko gasped.

“I know... it means that they’re filthy liars…” Maria groaned.

“Vincent said they were fishy too. Think they’re hiding something they did to The Beast?” Rex asked.

“Could be…” Maria groaned thinking on it.

“So, if you took them out, that means you got a Momentis Plate right?” Yoko asked.

“Uh-huh. This little girl gave it to me.” Rex nodded showing them his plate.

“T-That signature in the corner… ‘Mellanie P. Hound’... the legendary plate manufacturer… this plate would be ridiculously expensive to buy nowadays…” Maria gasped.

“A little girl gave this to you?” Yoko asked raising an eyebrow.

“She did, my honor code prevents me from lying.” Rex replied adamantly.

“Well, you did successfully take out a Misplaced Captain… fine… we got the coordinates toward headquarters from the mayor so let’s go.” Maria sighed.

They boarded the ship again and imported the coordinates for their next destination… Defender Coliseum. For now, Rex was tired from his battle.


	3. Panic at the Coliseum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex & company visit the Defender Coliseum. Rex gets to see all of the previous coliseum winners.

When the ship docked at Defender Coliseum Rex was explicitly instructed to stay in the hangar, because they didn’t need him being recognized. Rex did as he was told… for all of ten minutes. He explored around the outside seeing the many gear stalls and different forms of Momentis Plates. Eventually he came upon the Hall of Champions, where every winner of a tournament has a statue of themselves commemorating their show-stopping wins. He couldn’t resist his curiosity and went inside to check out the statues. There were literally thousands of statues of different winners. They were mostly female competitors, which seemed to make the males stand out more.

“All these winners…” Rex sighed with admiration as he continued to walk the halls.

He eventually came to an archway labeled “The General Wing”. According to the explanation plaque, inside were statues of every General Master that was ever given the belt. From what he could see, there was only ever one male General Master in the history of the Heart Defenders. One of the statues he came to though… was busted apart leaving only their calves and feet behind on the pedestal. On the plaque their name had been horrifically scratched out and had “The Beast” sloppily carved into it with some kind of tool. Below that was the tournament they competed in… The Royale of Worlds. 

“So The Beast’s original form competed in tournaments too…” Rex spoke to himself.

“The Beast is the one that carved its name into the plaque after they planned to remove her statue. They thought it was better this way.” a girl’s voice spoke making him jump.

Behind him was a lean and fit girl a year or two older than him with light skin and very long blonde hair held in braids. She wore wraps on her hands and feet going to her elbows and knees, black knee and elbow pads, black biker shorts, a black bra, and a red choker. On her left wrist was a blue metal bracer lined with small emeralds, indicating she was a Heart Defender.

“You startled me…” Rex sighed.

“You weren’t paying attention, so I couldn’t resist.” she giggled.

“So, why would they do that to a General Master’s statue?” Rex asked.

“Her sister was really cruel to her after basically stealing her job. The next GM punished her harshly and went all the way for her crimes going as far as removing her statue and stripping her of all accomplishments. Goes to show that the wicked will always get their just deserves.” she replied.

“I see…” Rex nodded.

“Hey, can I ask something?” she requested.

“What is it?” Rex replied tilting his head.

“Does The Beast ever summon you to your subconscious for training in using Malevolence Momentum?” she asked.

“Why would The Beast talk to me…?” Rex nervously chuckled.

“You’re not as sneaky as you think you are. You about gave everyone heart attacks when they saw your wrist.” she laughed.

“Oh… so that’s why no one said anything to me…” Rex spoke looking at his feet.

“Aw, don’t be sad, they’re just afraid of The Beast. They’ve seen what her disciples have been capable of in the past too, so they’re reluctant to start anything with you.” she spoke patting his head.

“Hey… how come you’re being friendly?” Rex asked curiously.

“I’m Master Vincent’s student, you can call me Joy by the way, and he told me that The Beast’s current student is someone worth allying with or something like that. He’s really rough with my training and sometimes he’s blunt with his words when he’s displeased with me, but he’s a really great judge of character.” she replied with a genuine smile.

“Must be great to have your Master training you…” Rex sighed.

“Don’t be sad… because you’ve got this.” Joy smiled setting a yellow gemstone into his bracelet.

“What’s this?” Rex asked.

“It’s called a Master’s Guest Stone: each one is color coded to a Master, and this one is Master Vincent’s. Basically any worlds controlled by my Master welcome you with open arms as a personal guest. Any act of violence against you by other Heart Defenders while on those worlds will be a considered and treated as a direct insult to Master Vincent. He really doesn’t like it when people insult him too, so in essence it means that he’s got your back.” Joy explained.

“Is the coliseum one of those worlds?” Rex asked.

“It sure is. Other Masters have tried taking it from him numerous times, but he always comes out on top since he’s got the ‘Home Turf’ ability that makes him three times as strong when on a world he has the World Heart to.” Joy smiled smugly.

“Do you have any World Hearts?” Rex asked her.

“Naw… came close once, but I got cocky and Master Vincent had to save me.” Joy sighed.

“Are World Hearts important to have?” Rex asked.

“World Hearts are kept in our bodies to protect them from the Misplaced. Of course, nowadays bearing a World Heart is a badge of honor for anyone that isn’t a Master. Captain Misplaced are very tough and won’t give in to an amateur. They also give a new ability to the bearer.” Joy replied.

“I didn’t know that.” Rex told her.

“Yep. World Hearts are also sentient in a way that they might even leave someone if they don’t like them.” Joy spoke.

“Cool. So, if someone’s going off the deep end the World Hearts might ditch them entirely.” Rex pieced together.

“Oh, that reminds me. The gem also gives you rights to participate in tournaments, but you gotta get through preliminaries first. It isn’t just the Misplaced that are your opponents, so we gotta be sure you’re up to snuff and all that.” Joy told him.

“Joy!” a male Heart Defender called running up cradling a wounded arm.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“There’s an untamed Misplaced in the plaza! It’s on a rampage, and Master Vincent isn’t around!” he answered.

“Damn… Rex, stay here, I’ll handle this.” Joy told him before sprinting off.

“Joy… I hope you can stall it long enough for Vincent to get back… we’re counting on you.” the man sighed.

“Stall it?! Have a little faith in her!” Rex scolded the man.

“It’s common knowledge that Joy is the weakest of his three disciples. There’s no way she can handle that thing if Vincent’s other two went down in a single hit.” the man scoffed.

“Joy…” Rex spoke in a concerned tone, and then he ran for the exit.

He got out there and Joy was struggling to get up. Before her was a colossal red hellhound skeleton with a black mass forming a body within it. There was no doubt this was a Misplaced of some sort. 

“That’s way too big to wrestle… Soul Weapon it is!” Rex exclaimed summoning his sword.

“Not alone you don’t!” Maria’s voice called as she and Yoko joined him, Yoko wielding a two-handed mace and Maria wielding twin machine guns.

“Let’s go!” Rex roared.

The three began attacking the Misplaced finding its skeleton too hard to strike. Rex managed to damage its belly giving him an idea. He retreated back toward Yoko.

“I need you to launch me into its belly with Red Momentum. The force should tip it over exposing its weak point.” Rex told her.

“Sounds like a plan.” Yoko nodded and rushed with him to get underneath it.

She tossed her mace to Rex so she could ready her hands and Rex then put his foot on them so she could launch him igniting a red aura around him. He slammed the mace into the Misplaced’s gut making it yelp flying up coming down landing on its side. Rex returned the mace summoning his sword back before the trio led an assault on the exposed torso. It got back up and spun its ribcage to defend its now bright white stomach. 

“Need another plan of attack…” Maria growled firing more as it made them dance around the plaza with fireballs.

“I can make another weapon… Yoko, throw me onto its back!” Rex ordered running at her.

Yoko performed the same up and over technique with him sending him high over the Misplaced’s back. He then focused as Vincent taught him and summoned forth a pure white cross bearing a blue gem in the center of the plus and a jet black blade. He then performed a spin attack hurling himself at the Misplaced sinking the blade of the scythe into its exposed body making it let out a loud earth-shaking howl as white fluid burst out the chest of it. 

It then began to shrink in size considerably. It’d become human sized now taking an almost lycanthrope form. Rex dismissed his new scythe and grabbed the Misplaced from behind performing a German Suplex to finish it off. When the Misplaced burst apart a golden gemstone bearing a static energy around it flew out and attached itself to Rex’s bracelet.

“What’s this?” Rex asked.

“That’s a Momentum Gem. It basically grants easier access to Yellow Momentum. With your plate you can socket it to a slot.” Maria explained.

“You have Red set to attack, Blue to Defense, and Darkness to Evasion. If you had another extra Momentum Slot then you could double up on a position. Red is best suited to attack and Blue is best suited to defense, but Yellow can be either way with a stun factor.” Yoko added.

“What about the core?” Rex asked.

“The core will always remain Darkness because of who your master is, or at least who they’re supposed to be.” Maria answered.

“The kid… protected us…?” one of the other defenders asked.

Watching from the shadows was the Grey Dutchess. She was biting her lip staring furiously at the boy. Such a Misplaced would normally finish other defenders. It had to be that he was accompanied by allies. She’d get him when he’s alone next time…

End of Chapter Bestiary

 

Misplaced #09: Lycan Hunter

Type: Pure Misplaced (no marking)

Description: A werewolf Misplaced with razor sharp teeth and claws. Fast and agile, this is a dangerous enemy.

 

Misplaced #10: Mega Lycan

Type: Pure Misplaced

Description: A colossal beast with one thing on its mind - devouring prey whole. How a Lycan Hunter grew to such proportions that is lost its humanoid bone structure is a mystery.


	4. The Red Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a surprise crash Rex and Yoko explore a mysterious tower while Maria fixes the ship.

Everything was peaceful as Rex stirred from slumber aboard the ship. That lasted for all of a few minutes until he realized he was on the ceiling. He then carefully made his way to the bridge.

“What happened?” Rex asked his companions.

“Something totally fried the autopilot while we were sleeping…” Yoko answered.

“Now we’re stuck who knows where until I can repair the ship.” Maria added trying to reach the control terminal on the floor-ceiling.

“How long’s that going to take?” Rex asked.

“First thing’s first… we need to get this bird right-side up so I can get to the controls to fix the autopilot.” Maria growled.

The trio then stepped out of the ship to find themselves in a bog of sorts with bramble trees all around them. The ship was completely wrecked, to Maria’s dismay. The trio managed to flip it back over allowing Maria to get to work.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Rex called to her from the ship entrance.

“Yes. Look for civilization so we can figure out where we are please? It’d be a big help.” Maria asked.

“It’s dangerous going alone… so let’s leave her to the repairs and follow the path.” Yoko suggested pointing to the ominous path through the trees.

“Okay.” Rex nodded.

The further in they went the more a fog began to roll in. For some reason there weren’t any Misplaced appearing. The muck would be more than suitable for sneak attacks. In fact, there weren’t even any birds or animals in the area. Eventually they came to a massive tower built of pure crimson stone.

“I think I’ve seen this place before…” Yoko observed as they stepped up onto solid ground.

“Really?” Rex asked as he shook the mud from his shoes.

“I can’t put my finger on it though…” she grumbled folding her arms.

“I hope somebody’s home.” Rex spoke as he used the large knockers on the dark oak doors making loud echoes within the tower.

The duo waited but after five minutes they got no answer. Rex knocked again and after another five minutes still didn’t get an answer. 

“I guess nobody’s home.” Yoko shrugged turning around, but she quickly whirled back around when she heard the doors open.

Rex had not only pushed them open he’d gone inside! She hurried to catch up to him seeing him looking around the foyer. The room was dark and the dim lighting only showed the bottom of the staircase going upward.

“Maybe there’s a light switch somewhere?” Rex thought aloud.

“Rex, nobody’s home, we shouldn’t barge in like this.” Yoko told him.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this place… kind of like… it wanted me to come in here.” Rex shrugged.

“Rex, sage advice, any time a building gives you that feeling it’s a good indicator to leave.” Yoko warned him, but he’d already set foot on the first step.

“I’m gonna explore.” Rex told her before heading carefully up the steps.

“Rex, wait!” she exclaimed hurrying after him as the lanterns on the walls suddenly began to ignite with crimson flames lighting up the tower going all the way up.

The duo continued up until they reached a pure red door with a black handle. Rex wasted no time opening the door and rushing in. The room seemed to be a study of sorts. There were mountains of books along with many bookshelves. Behind the desk was a regulation sized wrestling ring with an odd pure white effigy of a female form resting against one of the corners. The room lighting got better when the red candle on the desk ignited showing portraits of women on the walls too.

“Oh… my… god… Rex, we need to leave…” Yoko whimpered staring at one of the portraits.

“Why?” Rex asked looking at the portrait.

The picture was very well done. The young woman in it had fair pale skin, shoulder-length blue hair, and sapphire eyes. The smile on her face commanded regality, poise, and beauty. Her attire, from what could be seen waist up, seemed to be composed of sapphire tights cut just short of her rear cheeks and a matching skin-tight sleeveless crop top. Her arms were adorned with ocean blue and black defender gauntlets. 

“This tower belongs to the Crimson Duchess… a sorceress who takes the use of Red Momentum to the extreme, to a point that she should have become a Misplaced long ago. She’s the youngest of the three sisters known as the Duchess Triad comprised of the Crimson Duchess, the Sapphire Duchess, and the Grey Duchess.” Yoko explained.

“So they’re bad news…?” Rex asked tilting his head.

“Worse, they’re at the top of the Council’s wanted list… but no one is stupid enough to actually try and bring them in…” Yoko answered trembling a bit.

“I thought I was at the top?” Rex questioned.

“True… well, they’re still near the top.” Yoko answered.

“Hey this means there might be some advanced books on Red Momentum right?” Rex asked.

“Well, possibly, but-” Yoko began, but she stopped dead dropping her jaw in horror when she saw Rex rummaging through one of the mountains of books.

“This one looks interesting… ‘Red & Black Momentum: Performing The Shadow Flame Fist Technique’.” Rex observed grabbing a particularly thin book causing the entire mountain to collapse on top of him.

“You idiot!” Yoko roared hurrying to unbury him.

“Who’d have thought this was what kept that standing…” Rex groaned sitting up.

“Rex, leave it, it’s bad enough that the stack fell over. If we take something she’ll be after us with Misplaced. Trust me when I say you do  **not** want one of the Duchesses after you.” Yoko ordered.

“It’ll be fine, it’s just one book.” Rex argued when a sound from below could be heard.

“Hide…” Yoko whimpered yanking Rex with her going into the next room closing the door as quietly as possible.

Yoko motioned for Rex to be completely quiet as the door creaked open. The sound of metal clanking could be heard followed by the slamming of the door. There was more clanking, almost as if someone were pacing the room.

“Where is it, where is it… aha, there it is… sis would bust my ass if I didn’t return this while we meet up. Hold on… was my office always this messy?” a woman’s voice asked.

“I knew she’d notice…” Yoko whispered.

“Meh, no time to tidy up, I can’t afford to be late to the reunion this year.” the woman’s voice spoke followed by the door opening and slamming again.

“That was too close…” Yoko sighed.

“What’s this?” Rex asked alerting her to his position being across the room investigating a wardrobe.

“Rex what are you doing?!” Yoko exclaimed running to him.

Before she could pull him away a massive hand yanked Rex inside closing the doors behind him. It was pitch black at first, but then things became illuminated by a red light revealing he’d landed in a crimson ring with jet black ropes.

“I didn’t feel myself land though…” Rex pondered as he got to his feet.

“How curious… someone’s wandered into my realm.” a deep female voice spoke.

“Who’s there?!” Rex exclaimed looking around.

“Too inexperienced to participate in a Esper Match… but I suppose I can at least humor him and see what he’s got.” the voice spoke again as the temperature rose when a pillar of fire ignited in the corner opposite of Rex.

From the pillar of fire a masculine dark-skinned woman appeared. She had wild crimson red hair reaching down to the mat with bangs crowning her face, her toenails and fingernails were jet black, and she had four large ice blue horns on the sides of her head. She was dressed in black skin-tight shorts and a black sports bra with wings of flame extending off of the shoulder straps. Swaying behind her was a furless lion’s tail with a matching tuft of crimson hair at the tip.

“Who are you?” Rex asked when a bell began ringing.

“Put up a good fight and I’ll tell you.” she grinned charging at inhuman speed.

Rex was forced to defend himself against this unknown opponent. He quickly switched to maneuvers that didn’t focus on contact when just touching her skin felt like touching a plate fresh out of a dishwasher, very hot. She hit like a truck too, Rex was in immense pain after only three moves on top of his light burns. Whoever his opponent was, she definitely wasn’t human. He used the moment she charged again to put some distance between them leaping over her so she’d collide with a corner. 

“Sneaky, sneaky… but let’s see you dodge this…” she snickered leaping high above the ring.

She then encased herself in an aura of fire before charging down at the ring unleashing her aura as an explosive wave knocking Rex to a corner. Rex could barely move as she walked toward him with smoke rising off of her body.

“That was just one of my warm up moves too… if you wanna ever be called my master you’re gonna have to get way stronger.” she snickered.

She reached down to grab him when he suddenly rolled between her legs powering up with Underdog and landed a German Suplex. Rex rolled away from her breathing heavily as she lay there on the mat. She wasn’t unconscious, but rather had a look of disappointment.

“You’ve got stamina to spare, but your moves don’t pack the bite you’d need to get three on me.” she told him while sitting up.

“What…?” Rex asked while trying to catch his breath.

“I am the Esper of Brimstone, Cinder. I am one of The Eight Rulers. We are the reason for Momentum in the universe. The Red Duchess confronted me long ago, but has since broken her vow. I’m now stuck within this wardrobe, trapped by my own element. The only way out is to make a contract yet again...” she explained to the confused boy.

“A contract… like a promise to do something?” Rex asked.

“Indeed. My contract with the Red Duchess was to find a more powerful form of Red Momentum, but the condition was that she couldn’t ask for help from anyone… even family. She broke our vow so easily it makes me question whether it was a friend she wanted or just my unparallelled flame power.” Cinder nodded.

“You can get out if we make a contract right?” Rex asked.

“It’s the only way out, and we can’t make a contract with someone who broke one already so the Red Duchess couldn’t let me out even if she wanted to.” Cinder answered.

“How about… you lose to me on purpose just to form a contract? The goal will be to get you out with the condition being you hold no obligation to help me in any way once it’s fulfilled.” Rex suggested.

“In other words I won’t owe you anything…” Cinder stated.

“So what do you say?” Rex asked.

“If you’re tricking me…” Cinder growled.

“It doesn’t let me prove anything if you become bound to me after letting me win. If you enter a long-term contract with me I wanna earn it, not have it handed to me on a silver platter.” Rex told her.

“Fine…” Cinder sighed.

The bell sounded again and Cinder laid down on her back. Rex bridged her and due to a lack of a referee had to count the pin himself. The instant the bell sounded Cinder exploded into a pillar of flames that then engulfed Rex. When it subsided he bore a red and grey ring bearing a flame symbol on the center on his necklace chain. 

“I guess I have to put it on…” Rex thought to himself, and the minute he did he felt overwhelming power come to him.

A flaming red aura enveloped him and he performed a superhuman leap at the ceiling. He punched straight through it making a white light envelop him. He then shot out of the wardrobe spearing Yoko taking the wind out of her leaving a light singe mark on her gut. Rex then hurried to his feet and smashed the wardrobe with his newfound strength. Afterward the ring disintegrated dispersing the aura as Cinder reappeared.

“The contract has been fulfilled. See ya.” Cinder smirked before flying out the window.

Cinder was screaming with joy about her freedom. Yoko tried to catch her breath as Rex got to his feet dusting himself off. He looked out the window after her and noticed the ship was repaired.

“Yoko, looks like Maria’s done with repairs.” Rex smiled.

“Good… and we DON’T speak of this to ANYONE. The Crimson Duchess has ears all over the universe and the last thing we need is her on our tail wherever we go.” Yoko ordered.

“Okay.” Rex nodded.

The duo hurried back to the ship and had to change into their pajama bottoms to wash the muck off their footwear and pants. The ship then took off with Maria assuming manual control.

“All I could do was little more than a patch job, so we’ll have to get comfy once we find another world.” Maria told the two.

“It’ll be murder on our wallets depending on where we go too.” Yoko sighed.

“We don’t have the luxury of choice either since I don’t know when the engines will give out again.” Maria grumbled.

“Adults have it rough…” Rex observed.


	5. The First Frenzy

The Starry Sky barely made it to port in a world called Sacred Temple. Maria ordered Yoko to keep Rex out of trouble in town while she dealt with the repair fees. Yoko was concerned about how the Defenders kept giving Rex dirty looks, but he was totally oblivious staring at the grandeur of the pearly white and black city. The same as before though, they weren’t acting on their hate out of a much stronger fear of The Beast.

“Hey Yoko, what’s that huge place?” Rex asked pointing to the sky.

“That’s the place that earned this world’s name, the Sacred Temple of Seraphim Law. Master Angelina presides over this world and personally oversees tournaments among the sisters there.” Yoko explained.

“Sisters?” Rex asked tilting his head.

“You don’t know what a nun is?!” Yoko asked in shock.

“Well excuse me for living in an island village my whole life.” Rex scoffed.

“A nun is a woman who follows a religious faith. The nuns of Sacred Temple all train rigorously both physically and mentally to serve Master Angelina and uphold the religious law of this world. They often hold tournaments to test the progress of their physical training.” Yoko explained to him.

“I wanna go see the temple!” Rex grinned with sparkling eyes.

“Only Heart Defenders and members of the temple can enter.” Yoko told him making his eyes sparkle more.

“Listen, Rex, just because you have a bracelet doesn’t make you a true Heart Defender. The Beast isn’t an actual Master so you can’t go around - and he’s gone...” Yoko sighed pinching the bridge between her eyes.

She hurried to attempt cutting him off from the temple, but the crowd kept getting in the way. She made a last minute dead sprint up the stairs to grab and lift him at the doors. It’d been a while since she’d actually had to display that level of athleticism. 

“What gives?! Put me down!” Rex barked struggling.

“Did you not hear what I said?!” Yoko barked back.

“I want to look around!” Rex growled trying to get loose.

“Rex, you know that we’re in enemy territory. We can’t just go barging into a Master’s den of practice, it’s suicide.” Yoko growled back.

“You know, you’re acting like I’m going to pick a fight with everyone that comes my way…” Rex told her.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask that you set him down.” a man’s voice spoke.

Yoko turned around and flinched to see a large number of Heart Defenders there. She nervously set him down and found her legs unable to move. What was this?

“Our faith forbids us from judging someone based upon their burdens. This principle is one of Master Jeanne’s teachings, so we will follow them without fail.” one of them stated.

“The Beast may be his master, but he does not follow her will. We have no quarrel if he does not break religious law.” another added.

“I… guess we’ve been a little too careful… I owe you an apology too, Rex… Rex…?” Yoko spoke looking to him, but Rex had already gone in the temple.

She entered and found him reading the mandates of religious law made by Master Jeanne. He even had a small notepad writing them down. This was unlike Rex…

“If there are a lot of laws I’ll forget a few sooner or later, so if I have them written down I can memorize them over time.” Rex told her.

“You’re just as Vincent described you.” a calm woman’s voice spoke.

A gorgeous young woman with long braided gold hair wearing very dark blue ring gear with a religious robe bearing near-white silver armor matching the full-arm Defender Gauntlet on her right arm approached them. Yoko began shaking because she knew who she was… Master Jeanne Arc. Would she hold up her own principles if The Beast was involved? Was she going to personally attack Rex?

“Master Vincent has been going around the worlds trying to explain to other Masters that the Council of Defenders is hiding something very important and possibly blasphemous from us. Seeing you in person, I can see why he might think that. You already possess one and a half World Hearts, and they said that’s impossible.” Jeanne greeted them.

“Half?” Rex asked.

“The world you received that fragment from still has a General Class Misplaced hiding in the wings. They won’t be saved until the other half is retrieved.” Jeanne answered.

“Yoko, we gotta go back for it!” Rex exclaimed with his sense of justice triggered.

“W-We don’t know how long repairs are going to be…” Yoko nervously told him.

“Another two hours. We lucked out with the hull and wings catching the worst of our crash according to the mechanics. Very few of the ship’s organs had to be replaced.” Maria’s voice piped up alerting them to her presence.

“Maria, welcome. It’s been too long since your last visit.” Jeanne smiled warmly.

“You know Master Jeanne?” Rex asked.

“She… taught me to wrestle when I was a clumsy trainee that couldn’t grapple my way out of a wet paper bag…” Maria answered with a sigh.

“So this is your homeworld? No wonder you were so uptight when we met at HQ to be recognized as fully fledged Defenders.” Yoko smiled.

“You were a slob with a pronounced pot belly always stuffing your face when we first met too. You’ve made great strides in working it halfway off from cutting down on calories and working out.” Maria snickered.

“I’m doing a hell of a lot better than some others!” Yoko roared startling Rex with her visible anger.

“Chill, I’m complimenting you on your progress not poking fun.” Maria told her.

“If you’re staying a little while, would you like to have an exhibition match against me, Rex? It’d also let me gauge how your training is going with these two as your instructors.” Jeanne offered.

“If you value your dignity and masculinity you’ll decline… she’s way out of your league.” Maria warned him.

“That’s the thing, Maria. I don’t expect to win against Masters at my current level. Plus this is my chance to put what you’ve been teaching me into practice against an opponent who isn’t going to stand there and let me beat them around the ring until the bell rings.” Rex beamed making speech arrows of guilt stab Yoko’s back.

“How about it?” Jeanne asked with a smile.

“I’m game. I want to see just how big the gap between me and a Master is. Even if I get completely crushed I’ll learn from it and improve for the next time.” Rex answered with a confident smile.

“He’s so cute with that mindset… it makes me almost want to lose… but he wants me to show him the gap. My heart bleeds at the thought, but it’s what he wants me to do...” Jeanne giggled to herself.

Jeanne led his group to her personal ring in the upper reaches of the temple happily explaining the architecture to Rex’s curious mind. She made Maria a little angry reminiscing times she’d challenged her and gotten completely crushed. The ring before them was regulation size with jet black ropes, gold turnbuckles, and a pearly white canvas with a black cross on the center.

“Traditionally I use this ring for training or practicing new moves, so I can guarantee that we won’t have an audience.” Jeanne smiled.

“Very suspicious…” Yoko whispered to Maria.

“She initially converted to this religion to break from her bad habit of coddling and spoiling younger guys, especially opponents… it hasn’t been going well if that wasn’t already apparent.” Maria whispered back.

“So she’s the big sister type…” Yoko nodded to herself.

“I’ve made sure this ring is crafted from only the sturdiest materials as well with only the safest design possible. Of course, every Master is different - some disregard safety to make a ‘cool looking’ ring instead. I’ve had my share of injuries due to poorly made rings.” Jeanne told him.

“My best friend and I built our ring back home. It’s undergone at least ten revisions… each time because we didn’t make something sturdy enough to handle wrestling.” Rex smiled.

“Productive for your age. Where is your friend?” Jeanne asked.

“Somewhere… we both got swept up by this tornado and when I woke up I was on a new world. I just hope she’s okay…” Rex answered.

The two got in the ring and set to opposing corners. Jeanne showed that the waist down of her robe comes off revealing that it’s actually a leotard with a skirt attachment neatly folding it before setting it under the bottom turnbuckle. With her legs exposed, her thigh boots showed they were a matching shade of blue with silver armor attachments similar in design to her gauntlet.

“Ready.” Jeanne giggled.

“Do we have an official?” Rex asked.

“Maria, if you would?” Jeanne requested.

“I’ve got a choice?” Maria sighed entering the ring.

“Guess that means I’m on bell duty.” Yoko shrugged.

The two stretched a bit and when Yoko rang the bell charged at each other. A cry made both come to a screeching halt about barreling into each other at the center. Rex looked to his left and his face got speared by an Identified Flying Friend knocking him out of the ring causing dead silence.

“You didn’t have to throw me!” Nora cried holding her head.

“Master Chrysanthemum, you’re alive!” Jeanne exclaimed leaping from the ring to hug her.

“Don’t act surprised, the Council would have held a funeral if I’d turned into a Misplaced.” Chrys scoffed.

“What brings you here?” Jeanne asked.

“The Beast, what else? We have a duty as Masters and Heart Defenders to exterminate him.” Chrys answered.

“Crap…” Maria clicked her tongue looking to where Rex should be, but he appeared to be missing.

“Where’d Rex go…?” Yoko whispered to herself.

“Rex…?” Nora asked in a frightened state as Rex stepped toward her with a dark aura rising from his body.

“I knew it…” Chrys growled.

“You’re the one who did this to him, throwing someone he cares about at him!” a voice cried.

“Her…?!” Chrys gasped as Rex let out an inhuman blood-curdling roar at her.

His eyes were glowing crimson, his bracelet had expanded to a gauntlet with sharp fingertips, and the aura intensified as black tattoos appeared on his body. A matching gauntlet appeared on his other hand and in a flash he’d tackled Chrys through the stained glass window. Slash after slash he let loose on her infused with dark energy. He dodged a counter elbow spinning in a ball suddenly blurring ahead of her grabbing hold of her shoulders smashing her on the ground making a crater from the force.

Rex expertly dodged the armed guards spinning on his head knocking them away with his legs. More and more came and he easily sent them packing. Chrys stood up wiping blood from her lip growling angrily. His movements were animalistic and seemed to be on all fours. His fury was unbelievable. Chrys couldn’t keep up at all. Was this the power of The Beast at work?

Chrys thought she hit him dead on until she heard the bending of metal. He’d caught her knuckles with his teeth and was biting with enough force to bend into the metal! A mass of darkness formed around them and Rex unleashed a spin kick that slammed Chrys with twin spirals of darkness making her land in a fruit cart.

“The Beast’s signature move… Spiral of Madness…” Jeanne gasped.

“Rex, stop!” Nora cried hugging him from behind.

Rex thrashed violently knocking her down, but he stopped when he went to harm her. The darkness around him seemed to start receding  as light began shining from his chest. The World Heart and the fragment exited revolving around him slowly, but then they sped up eventually forming a ring of blue and green. Both then fired beams of light into Rex making him cry out in enraged agony as he reverted to normal. He stumbled a bit and then fell passing out on top of Nora as the World Heart and fragment reentered his body.

“Her words reached him…” Jeanne sighed with relief.

“Do you think… maybe that’s what happens when someone ticks him off?” Yoko asked Maria.

“I don’t know… and there’s only one person in the cosmos who can tell us for sure.” Maria groaned fighting herself over a decision.

“Maria, that’s way too dangerous…” Yoko gasped.

“You must go see the Grey Duchess. Usually such an idea would be forbidden… but I myself now see what Vincent saw in Rex. I want to help him, but there’s no way she’ll see a Master. So you must go in my place. I ask this of you…” Jeanne pleaded.

“If you’re taking him then take me with you!” Nora begged.

“You’re Chrys’s student going by that gauntlet on your hand. So it’s a no-can-do.” Maria told her.

“Maria, this is Rex’s friend… the one he told us about… come on, they didn’t get to have a proper reunion.” Yoko reasoned with her.

“I still want to know how you expect us to get there.” Maria scoffed.

“You may borrow the Silent Night while your ship is repaired. You won’t find a stealthier ship in this sector.” Jeanne offered.

“Thank you. Come on, let’s gather our kids and be off.” Yoko smiled.

“When did we become a family?!” Maria exclaimed.

Yoko lifted both Rex and Nora by the waist and began carrying them. Rex didn’t seem to be waking up though. The ship departed and Nora refused to leave Rex’s bedside. Their destination lay in coordinates that everyone knows but no one dares go… X: 999, Y: 999, Z: 999.


	6. Darkness in All the Right Places

The long pathway the Silent Night docked at had colossal dead trees on the left and right sides of it. The entire world seemed gloomy and dead inside. Nora carried Rex on her back letting Maria and Yoko lead the way. They soon reached a long cobblestone bridge leading to a colossal castle. Sure enough Misplaced appeared alongside a new breed having an amazonian look dressed in combat armor. 

Maria and Yoko fought hard to ensure Nora and Rex would be safe. They got to the gates with Misplaced in pursuit. Maria and Yoko pushed the doors open getting Nora and Rex through, but then they closed it.

“What about you two?!” Nora cried.

“Somebody’s gotta hold them off!” Maria told her through the door.

“Take him to the duchess, we’ll handle these jabronies!” Yoko assured her.

Nora was hesitant, but hurried on for Rex’s sake. She soon found the audience hall where the Grey Duchess sat upon a grey throne bearing gothic stylization. She snapped her fingers and two Misplaced appeared.

“Wait! He needs your help!” Nora called to her.

“You come into my abode without so much as a letter of notice… and now you have the gall to ask me for help?” the Grey Duchess scoffed hiding her eyes with the brim of her hat.

“He’s the student of The Beast! Something happened and now he won’t wake up! Your expertise is Dark Momentum, right?! Please, you have to do something!” Nora pleaded stepping closer to her.

“I do not  _ have _ to do anything, young lady… and even if I did help you there would be a price for it. We duchesses do not work for free.” the Grey Duchess told her.

“Whatever it is I’ll pay it! Please!” Nora cried shedding a tear making the duchess snap her fingers making darkness catch the tear in a bottle.

“A pure maiden’s tear… there is not a more valuable thing to be found in this world. I shall take this tear as payment.” the Grey Duchess smirked devilishly.

“You’ll help him?!” Nora asked fervently.

“It is the exact opposite of my current contract, but I am not in the habit of refusing once I have received payment…” the duchess thought to herself.

“This way.” she commanded and Nora hurried over.

The Grey Duchess led Nora down to what could only be described as a torture chamber/research lab hybrid. She had Nora set Rex on the person-shaped table and strap him in. She then put a white tape of sorts over the center of his bracelet.

“What’s that?” Nora asked.

“Heart Seal Tape. It is to keep him from fighting back against what I am about to do. No matter how much pain he may appear to be in you are not to interfere or you will risk harming his very being.” the Grey Duchess answered taking her grappling gloves off to put on surgical ones.

“O-Okay…” Nora nodded nervously.

The Grey Duchess then pulled out an oddly bent knife and a crystal knife. She touched his sternum making a bright light shine making Rex start flailing screaming in agony. Nora could only cry as she watched, with the darkness catching her nears beneath her. The reality of the room itself began warping and distorting as she went deeper without seeming to harm Rex at all. She had the darkness bring her different tools working on something inside the light. After three minutes the darkness brought her a clamping tool that she used to keep the light as wide as possible.

“It’s about to get very loud, put these on.” the Grey Duchess warned Nora handing her a pair of wireless earphones before putting one on herself.

She grabbed two pairs of forceps, reached in, and pulled with great force making a white crystal with black veins in it come out with many black energy veins connecting it to inside Rex. The crystal amplified the soundwaves of Rex’s screams shaking the entire room violently. The darkness brought the duchess a syringe with a golden liquid in it to her and she boldly stabbed it into the crystal injecting the fluid. To her shock the crystal began to turn fully black as the veins holding it in became golden. She pushed the crystal back in, removed the pliers, and allowed the light to seal up ceasing the screaming as Rex lost consciousness again.

“What was that crystal…?” Nora asked nervously.

“The physical representation of his soul. Most people’s souls are white or gold. From what I saw… the natural color of his soul is black as the night sky, but the veins are not black… but gold, indicating purity and love. What happened to him was that his soul almost could not handle the darkness he’d channeled. In layman's terms, he almost became a Misplaced like his master. If I had not interfered then with all likeliness he would have succumbed.” the duchess explained.

“Why is it so unusual to have a black soul?” Nora asked.

“It means that from birth he has had a very high tolerance to darkness and more than likely has an aptitude for using it. To most, he would appear to be the worst candidate for the Heart Defenders… but those who know better will be able to see his true talent lies not in his growth potential but in his adaptability to situations.” the Grey Duchess explained further.

“Thank you for helping him.” Nora spoke bowing to her.

“Your gratitude is unnecessary. Take him and leave.” the duchess scoffed.

Nora carried Rex back up through the castle with glee. When she got outside she found Maria and Yoko to be alive and a little battered, but their outfits were a little worse for wear. It was warp speed to return to Sacred Temple. When they docked Rex finally came to.

“How do you feel?” Maria asked.

“Like… I got really mad and did something, and now that feeling of regretting it has set in… but I don’t remember what I did.” Rex answered.

“You did kind of mess up a Master with the power of Black Momentum. Master Chrysanthemum is one of the stronger Masters too, which means that whatever you did used a lot of power.” Yoko explained.

“It wasn’t his fault. The way the Grey Duchess explained it, his soul was born to use darkness. That darkness should have turned him into a Misplaced, but his natural resistance to it kept him human even if we had to get her help. I think he’ll only grow to adapt to darkness even more from here.” Nora told them.

“Nora… you became that lady’s student?” Rex asked examining her pink and green gauntlet.

“She twisted my arm. She found where I landed after we got sucked up and said if I wanted to see you again I’d join the Heart Defenders… I’ve been training under her ever since.” Nora answered.

“Nora, you should keep training under her.” Rex told her.

“Why?!” Nora exclaimed.

“I don’t know if I can control that power… or if it can even be controlled at all. I don’t want you getting hurt if I can’t be stopped next time that happens to me.” Rex explained.

“Rex, I don’t care. That lady wants to hurt you. She might try to force me to hurt you…” Nora argued.

“Rex is thinking of you, Nora. He lost all sense of friend and foe when he changed, attacking anyone that came near him regardless of their intentions.” Yoko reasoned with her.

“So why do you two get to go with him?” Nora asked.

“Our friend is twisting OUR arms into it…” Maria answered with a sigh.

“We’re technically rogue… but Masters are autonomous from the council and can do as they like on worlds they control.” Yoko added.

The party left the docks and returned to see Jeanne. She had Chrysanthemum wrapped up tight in bandages and casts. You could tell that Chrys was not happy about it too.

“There you are. Repairs to the Starry Sky are complete. I even took the liberty of having a warp engine installed to make getting to places you’ve already been easier.” Jeanne smiled.

“Awesome.” Rex chuckled.

“Now we can go back for the other half of Tango Town’s World Heart without sacrificing a ton of time.” Yoko smiled.

“Good luck, Rex. Oh, and be wary… the Master who presides over that world won’t be overly fond of you doing her job for her.” Jeanne warned.

“Rex, please…” Nora whined.

“I’m sorry, Nora. I can’t risk you like this. I’m going to master this darkness so that there is no risk. Until then stay safe for me.” Rex assured her.

“Fine…” Nora moped.

“It really bleeds his heart to do this to her.” Maria snickered.

“Young love.” Yoko giggled.

“Rex, take this.” Nora spoke placing a chain link necklace bearing a charm in the shape of a champion belt around his neck.

“What is it?” Rex asked.

“It’s a Champion Charm. It’s supposed to bring good luck in matches, especially in special ones. I bought it when Chrys wasn’t looking since I knew you could get challenged to an Execution Match any time.” Nora smiled.

“Thanks a bunch. I promise not to lose it.” Rex nodded with a smile.

“Awe…” both of Rex’s companions swooned.

“What’re you two going ‘awe’ about?” Rex asked looking completely confused.

“Nothing.” both giggled.

The three then returned to the Starry Sky and set off at warp speed for Tango Town. Rex was trying to figure out what his companions were acting so girly for. What was so entertaining about getting a gift from Nora? She was wishing him luck, so how could it be anything but caring for his safety?

Already in Tango Town, the Grey Duchess was surveying the Hotel District’s layout and where Misplaced liked to appear. She looked up at the clock tower with a grin summoning a book from thin air. With darkness on her hand she began to recite…

“Shadows dark without light, form together to unleash a dreadful fright! Swallow the heart, trap it in the realm of dark!”

The darkness flew from her hand and entered the clock face. Blue flames ignited on the numbers as the clock hands begun to spin out of control. She tipped her hat at the tower and returned to her castle. Waiting for her there was the Sapphire Duchess alongside the Crimson Duchess.

“It’s not often I receive a home visit, sisters. To what do I owe the pleasure?” the Grey Duchess chuckled with a smile.

“The boy who was here. Where is he?” the Sapphire Duchess asked.

“I don’t know where he is presently, but I do know where he  **_will be_ ** .” the Grey Duchess replied.

“That punk freed my captive. He’s earned a Flame-go-round for breaking and entering on top of that.” the Crimson Duchess growled.

“I told you to stop leaving your door unlocked many times, so the blame lies squarely on you for not listening, sister.” the Grey Duchess snickered.

“That boy holds the key to The Beast’s past… the past that the Council of Defenders does not want today’s generation knowing. The boy himself has a hazy past, so I’m highly intrigued by his natural resistance to the temptations of Black Momentum. He was hand-picked, after all - it was by no means random chance.” the Sapphire Duchess spoke.

“There’s also the matter of his broken heart, which hides his life stream from view by others. I can fix crystals no problem, but I don’t have the equipment for repairing hearts.” the Grey Duchess shrugged.

“That’s because you break hearts, not fix ‘em.” the Crimson Duchess giggled.

“Very well. Allow me to catch him and I will repair his heart.” the Sapphire Duchess sighed.

“I’m contracted to turn him into a Misplaced, so I’m afraid we’d be enemies if I allowed that to happen.” the Grey Duchess smirked.

“You actually plan to abide by that?” the Crimson Duchess asked.

“To a degree. I’d rather not get up close and personal - I hate dealing with kids in the ring. They always whine when they lose.” the Grey Duchess scoffed dismissively.

“Well then sister, I will bid you adieu.” the Sapphire Duchess tipped her hat before entering a water portal.

“Ooh, does this mean I might get to see a catfight between you two again? It’s been 756 years since the last one.” the Crimson Duchess giggled.

“For the last time, a catfight victory is determined by knockout or submission. We were wrestling as pinfalls still counted.” the Grey Duchess corrected her.


	7. Tango Town Rumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex & friends return to Tango Town.

The Starry Sky soon docked at Tango Town once again. The Safe District seemed a bit livelier as well. There was a noticeable lack of Heart Defenders so no one was panicking at the sight of Rex. The party hurried to Abraham Gear to see Jewels.

“Well, well, if it ain’t Rex. Still alive and kicking huh?” Jewels smirked.

“Sure am.” Rex nodded.

“Come to visit or do you need some new gear?” Jewels asked.

“I want to know about the General Misplaced. We need the other half of Tango Town’s World Heart to keep out the Misplaced for good.” Rex answered.

“I heard it was lurking in the Clocktower District. I sincerely want to tell you to give up on it, but I know the kind of kid you are. You wouldn’t even be dissuaded if Master Liara tried to talk you out of it.” Jewels chuckled.

“Who?” Rex asked.

“She’s the Master who presides over this world and one other. Liara may be a rookie Master, but she still holds that position of authority. She’s got a nasty scar on her face that she received from the DOA Misplaced named Moonscar.” Maria explained.

“DOA?” Rex questioned.

“It’s an abbreviation of Dead or Alive, meaning it’s got a bounty on its head due to having a vagabond nature as well as a track record for seeking out Heart Defenders specifically.” Yoko explained.

“”Hold it… you girls… your gear’s outdated by two decades!” Jewels exclaimed.

“T-The Council issued these pads…” Maria choked out.

“We kinda grew attached…” Yoko nervously chuckled.

“You idjits! Rex, step out, I’m going to update these girls with some custom makes.” Jewels ordered.

“Sure thing. I’ll be in the Safe District.” Rex told them before exiting the shop.

Rex took a good look around the Safe District while he waited. It turned out that there wasn’t a large number of things to see. There were some food stalls, but Maria and Yoko were the ones with the group’s money so he couldn’t indulge his stomach no matter how much his nose told him to. The boredom got to him and he went to the Arena District, where he’d ended up fighting the second-in-command before. The place looked cleaned up with a ring set up in the center of the plaza. Curiously he hurried up to it and a blue-haired referee girl slid out from under the apron startling him.

“Welcome! Do you too want to test your mettle in the ring?!” the referee girl explosively asked.

“That depends… does it cost me anything?” Rex replied.

“Nope! It’s completely free and open challenge, so anybody can get in stand up to the challenge!” the referee girl beamed.

“I’ve got some time to kill…” Rex shrugged.

“Excellent!” the referee girl cried hopping on top of the apron holding the ropes open for him.

He entered and she gave the usual rundown of the match’s rules before checking for weapons. She then gave a signal to the distance confusing Rex. Spotlights then turned on shining toward a rooftop…

“A heroine of justice, a wrestler of righteousness, she appears in people’s time of need… it is I, Invincible Yoshitsune!” a girl’s voice cried.

Rex looked up and saw a girl slightly older than him with a well endowed figure dressed in black ring boots, red knee pads, a white and red leotard designed to look like a combat suit, a silver full-arm gauntlet on her left arm, a red grappling glove and elbow pad on her other arm, and a lucha mask in the same theme as her outfit with red hair coming out the top as a ponytail. She made an impressive leap into the air performing many poses as well as pulling off front flips and twirls. When she began to land her foot touched the top rope shattering her balance making her face plant into the canvas before her momentum caused her to roll across the ring going under the bottom rope to the ground.

“Is she okay…?” Rex asked the referee.

“I’m sure she meant to do that…” the referee girl answered looking over the ropes to the floor.

Yoshitsune surprised the referee leaping up to and over the top rope sticking the landing this time laughing cockily. Rex wasn’t sure what to make of her…

“So you are my opponent?! I wish you luck! I’m INVINCIBLE you know?!” Yoshitsune laughed cockily.

“You lost to that first grader yesterday…” the referee girl chuckled.

“SILENCE!!! THE BELL!!!” Yoshitsune demanded.

“Fine, fine.” she sighed raising a ring bell.

She rang the bell and Yoshitsune charged Rex. He easily dodged and countered her locking a Full Nelson. Rex knew she was struggling, but she had little to no strength behind her. There was no way she was also a Heart Defender, right? He suplexed her from that position and got her in a chinlock making her cry out more.

“Do you give?” the referee girl asked.

“NEVER!!! I’M INVINCIBLE!!!” Yoshitsune cried.

Rex continued to perform moves on Yoshitsune. What she lacked in ring talent she certainly made up for in her ability to take a beating. She kept kicking out at two no matter how big the hit she took was. Was this why she claimed to be invincible? After the twelfth attempt she rolled to the other side of the ring with green momentum erupting from her.

“Haha! It is time! My ultimate… REVENGE SHOT!!!” Yoshitsune laughed charging… right into Rex’s boot knocking the momentum out of her, and then he covered her again.

“1, 2, 3!” the referee girl counted before ringing the bell.

“Is she a jobber?” Rex asked the referee.

“At one point she jobbed for Torrent’s Wrestling Lasses. Once she became Master Liara’s apprentice she’s wanted desperately to shed that role, so she’s been training nonstop with her master to break from it. It hasn’t been going well...” she explained.

“So you return.” a voice spoke and the woman Rex encountered before that wanted to remove his bracelet entered the ring.

“That scar… you’re Master Liara aren’t you?” Rex asked.

“I want you off my world if you refuse to remove it.” Liara ordered.

“Sorry, but I’m here for that second half of the World Heart. When my friends get here I’m headed for the clock tower.” Rex told her.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Liara growled taking a combat stance.

“That’s a weird place for a piano.” Rex spoke pointing to the air making Liara look then immediately realize she fell for the oldest trick in the book.

Rex got in the clock tower and boarded up the door with a hammer and nails he found lying near the convenient stack of boards. Liara began shoulder tackling the door making Rex quickly flee up the stairs as the boards started bending starting to crack. Rex was only a quarter of the way up when Liara finally busted through the door. She chased him all the way up to the door into the clock chamber. He dodged at the last second causing her to bust it down revealing the inside had black veins all over it.

“What the hell…?” Liara asked looking in horror at the room.

At the center of the room was a large Misplaced in the shape of a scantily-clad kunoichi sitting formally with an immense Nodachi bearing a moon blue blade laying before it. There was a white scar on its body and face that made Liara begin shaking. Rex entered and got a good look before turning to Liara.

“Are you okay?” Rex asked.

“Moonscar… but… s-she was… they said they… how is she…?” Liara stuttered.

“So she’s a tough Misplaced, huh?” Rex smirked as Yoko and Maria hurried in with new gloves, elbow pads, and knee pads.

“Moonscar. So this is where it’s been hiding since it escaped.” Maria growled.

“It explains why no Heart Defenders are here long. They run into Moonscar and that’s the end of them.” Yoko mentioned.

“Think we can take her…?” Maria asked her.

“No problem. We have the three of us plus Master Liara.” Rex answered confidently taking his battle pose.

“Why should I fight alongside you?!” Liara exclaimed.

“Would you rather fight Moonscar alone?” Rex asked making her go silent.

Moonscar then stood taking up her sword. Despite the somewhat confined room she moved with insane speed. Anything they tried to hit Moonscar with didn’t even phase her as she rampaged with skill and talent with a sword despite its size. She then unleashed an energy attack in the shape of a spiraling crescent moon that knocked them all to the wall.

“Moonscar earned that name… because of that attack… The Crescent Wave…” Liara groaned.

“Is she any good hand-to-hand…?” Rex asked as darkness began to seep from inside his body.

“No one knows… she always has that sword…” Yoko groaned.

“Rex, are you okay…?” Maria asked nervously eyeing Rex’s half-red eyes.

“I’m going to get rid of that sword…” Rex growled.

“How…?” Liara asked nervously.

Rex charged Moonscar summoning his Soul Sword taking her by surprise. His swings were erratic but very fast as he swapped which hand he swung with each time. Moonscar unleashed her signature attack again, but Rex made an inhuman twirl attack not only deflecting it… but also riding it back to Moonscar! 

The attack knocked her sword out of her hands for Rex to catch. He then unleashed a combination storm of attacks on Moonscar before drop kicking her out the clock busting it apart. The broken clock caused the gears to begin going haywire. Rex used their increased speed to effectively bust Moonscar’s sword by tossing it into them destroying the gears in the process. Rex then dismissed his sword leaping down to where Moonscar was slowly getting up.

“Moonscar… I hope you know how to wrestle, or else you’re in for a world of hurt… hurt that no sword can ever bring you…” Rex growled as the darkness flared more.

Rex moved almost like a black blur landing blows on Moonscar’s wounds before performing slams and bombs on her. The rest of the party soon joined him and worked together performing powerful tag-team moves on her. Moonscar started coughing up purple liquid quickly and couldn’t retain her balance at all. After receiving a three-person spinebuster from Rex, Maria, and Yoko it quickly became apparent that Moonscar could barely get up. 

“Liara, finish her. She scarred you both mentally and physically, so it’s only fair you put an end to Moonscar’s legend.” Rex told the adrenaline-filled Master.

“You look like you want to finish her…” Liara bluffed.

“Nah. My anger’s reserved for the General Misplaced, not a legend. We found her by accident when you chased me.” Rex explained to her.

“The General Misplaced can be found in the Arena District. It hangs out in the abandoned Slam Arena.” Liara told him.

The darkness faded from Rex as he ran off with Maria and Yoko. The arena they entered had a strange muscular humanoid Misplaced dressed in martial arts pants wielding a blue Nodachi weapon.

“This is the General Misplaced?” Rex asked.

“I am… and the name is Moonscar.” the Misplaced answered.

“IT TALKED???!!!” Maria and Yoko exclaimed.

“Is it so strange that high-ranking Misplaced can talk? We are high rank not by chance… but because of our will as a person. We knew we would never see our old selves again, so we crafted new ones.” the Misplaced spoke.

“You aren’t Moonscar. We just fought her.” Rex told him.

“That heathen is not worthy of the name! I am! I am superior! I invented the Crescent Wave! She stole it from me!” the Misplaced roared leaping from the ring ready to bring down his sword.

Rex summoned his sword again and countered him with ease knocking him back. This so-called Moonscar was far easier to fight. He was sloppier, slower, and more concerned about looking stylish than actual swordsmanship. It was pretty obvious why the female Moonscar was renowned and not this one. He didn’t have the raw talent she had and half her defenses. 

“Damn you… TAKE THIS!!! THE REAL CRESCENT WAVE!!!” Fake Moonscar roared.

His version of the move was half as big and easily deflected back lopping off his arm making him roar in agony. Rex then took off his sword arm before dismissing his sword. Yoko uppercut Fake Moonscar into the air as Maria locked her hands together to launch Rex into the air after him. With a front flip over him Rex performed a neck breaker directly into the center of the ring. Rex quickly pinned him making a shockwave knock him to the ropes where Yoko caught him. Light began shining from Fake Moonscar’s chest as his body started to turn to darkness floating into the air and disappearing.

“No… no… I… I should… be a legend… not… her…” Fake Moonscar spoke shedding a single tear before fading entirely.

A World Heart fragment then floated toward Rex. The other half exited his chest to meet it and become whole. The completed World Heart then then soared into the air and unleashed a series of sonic pulses made of light through the entire world. Misplaced that were swarming around cried out as they were extinguished by the pulsing. The buildings around them somehow became vibrant in color, people who seemed angry or corrupt all came to their senses, and damaged buildings repaired themselves while missing ones reappeared entirely. The World Heart them zoomed down back to Rex entering his chest once again.

“This is how the town used to look in its heyday.” the janitor Rex met spoke up startling the three of them.

“Master Serina!” Yoko and Maria exclaimed kneeling and bowing.

“Hey, cut that out, I’m long since retired. You won’t see me grappling any Misplaced, that’s for sure.” Serina chuckled waving her hand dismissively.

“Was she a big deal?” Rex asked.

“She was known as the ‘Excalibur Master’. If there were legendary Misplaced about, she’d go and challenge them coming out on top every time. The only one that eluded her was Moonscar.” Maria explained.

“Moonscar… she and I go way back. Before Moonscar became legendary, she was a mere Heart Defender trainee.” Serina sighed.

“Wait, you look so young… why are you retired?” Rex asked.

“I only look young, I’m 39. Anyway, a neck and back injury forced me into it. If I exert myself too much these days I wind up having to see my chiropractor. Trust me, I’m in no condition to compete.” Serina answered. 

“Her injury caused permanent damage to her spine, so if she isn’t careful her joints go out of place. It’s how bombs into the turnbuckles became illegal in matches.” Maria explained to Rex.

“She still went out of her way to win the match though, so she got the last laugh on her opponent since a rematch was impossible.” Yoko added.

“The doctor actually said doing that is what made the injury worse than it’d have originally been, so in a way I ended my own career.” Serina snickered.

“Master Liara.” Rex smiled as she entered the arena.

“So you beat the General Misplaced…” Liara spoke.

“Did you finish Moonscar?” Rex asked.

“A certain jobber gave her the opportunity to escape…” Liara growled yanking a handcuffed Yoshitsune into view.

“I said I was sorry…” Yoshitsune wept.

“You aren’t even close to how sorry I’m going to make you for interrupting an important confrontation with your stupid speeches coupled with a botched landing.” Liara told her.

“Don’t be so hard on her, Liara. Everyone’s entitled to their own gimmick, plus she likely did it to earn your respect taking out an enemy from your past.” Serina smiled.

“I’m hungry…” Rex spoke as his stomach growled.

“I’ll make something when we get back to the ship.” Maria told him.

“Going so soon? We should celebrate the liberation of Tango Town. With both Moonscars gone Heart Defenders can once again keep the peace with ease. There will be way less Misplaced with the World Heart restored because they have to take the long way here.” Serina chuckled.

“Should we be celebrating his victory though…?” Liara asked eyeing Rex with fury once again.

“Leave the kid alone, punk, he’s a hero.” Jewels scolded Liara smacking the back of her head with a sandal.

“Look who’s out of the workshop for once.” Serina giggled.

“After the entire town suddenly looked like it did when I was a little girl, how could I stay on my ass? It’s all because Rex came to town that this could happen.” Jewels smiled.

“Hear that Rex? You’re a hero. You might get a statue in your honor for saving the town.” Maria teased Rex nudging him with her elbow.

“I don’t need something grandiose like that.” Rex chuckled blushing a bit.

Watching from afar was the Grey Duchess. She turned and entered a transformed door that then closed becoming normal again. In her castle once again she bit her thumb hard enough to bleed a little bit.

“I will find a way to crush him, even if I have to do it myself…” she growled.


End file.
